The High Master
by LuciusDivius
Summary: Slave AU to offlymonddreams Collar Verse with a nod to tailkinker as well. M for a reason, BDSM, Non-Con. Just before the Board decides to sell their most difficult slave, the new Chairman tags Greg and sets out to put him through a new training program.
1. Chapter 1

Cuddy came back to her office after the board meeting had ended and sat down with a sigh. Although she'd lobbied hard against it, the board had decided that the continued and upward trending discipline issues with Greg were no longer worth the cases and donations that he brought to the hospital. She had even done a chart in hard figures, demonstrating that the hospital was indeed still turning a very handsome profit on Greg's services but the board barely even considered it. Their brand new chairman had read it over thoroughly however.

"I see no reason why this slave should be sold," the chairman said. "I'm certain that the many other slaves of this hospital do not bring in the profit that Greg is bringing in.

"Mr. Airsid, it's not a question of profit but of discipline," Dr. Bergman interjected. "Clearly, no amount of judicial whippings are going to change his behavior and the complaints from the free staff and patients have to be given due consideration.

"I am giving them due consideration. I agree, something must be done about his behavior issues, but simply selling him away allows him to claim the victory."

"How does getting sold equal victory for him?"

"It means that you could not control him. You could not be a proper master and so allowed your slave to master you. That equals victory," Nikolai Airsid said tersely. "The record says that he has been tagged by Dr. Wilson, Dept. Head of Oncology. Clearly Dr. Wilson is unable to be a proper master either."

"He doesn't have the most pleasant or compliant personality."

"Mastering a slave has nothing to do with a pleasant personality and compliance. Obedience is something that is demanded. Too many people mistake ownership for mastering. They are two entirely different things. Send a message to Dr. Wilson and have him come to my office tomorrow morning with Greg and security. You and our assistants will witness the revocation of Dr. Wilson's tagging rights and the beginning of mine."

"You'll tag Greg?" Dr. Young asked, startled at the turn of events.

"Yes. I will become his master and the hospital will remain his owner and benefit from his services. Dr. Cuddy, get me all of his records this afternoon to look over. Any objections?" Nikolai said, looking at each board member, who shook their heads no one by one. All were intrigued to see if Nikolai would be able to tame their most unruly slave.

" Over the next four hours, Cuddy got together all of Greg's paperwork, medical records, disciplinary records, medical licensing and slave title and registration papers. She sent the message through to Wilson to come to Mr. Airsid's office first thing the following morning. Greg hadn't gone home with Wilson that night, due to the morning meeting. Wilson wanted to be on his best, thinking it was some question of funding for the new clinical trials he was proposing.

Early in the morning, the security guards collected Greg from his cubby hole in diagnostics and dragged him down to the groomers where he was forcibly restrained and given a haircut and shave, showered and dressed in jeans and tee shirt. He was then delivered to the slave canteen to eat and brought up to the Chairman of the Board's office, forced to kneel in the waiting area. Wilson saw him kneeling there when he arrived and was beside himself, wondering what trouble Greg could have gotten in overnight to be at the Chairman's office instead of Cuddy's. Greg met his eyes and shook his head, denying any knowledge of what this could be about. For once, Wilson believed him.

The assistant showed Wilson into the office. "Dr. Wilson, thank you for being prompt. Please sit down," Nikolai said gesturing to one of two chairs in front of his desk. The other chair was occupied by Cuddy.

"Thank you, Mr. Airsid. The uh, memo didn't say what our meeting was about so I'm afraid I'm unprepared for anything but basic stats on my department," Wilson said.

"I would like to hear about the new clinical trials, but I understand that you didn't have fair warning to gather up your information and proposals. We'll reschedule for that discussion. This meeting is concerning Greg."

"What did he do?" Wilson asked with a small sigh.

"Nothing in specific. But his behavior since you tagged him has been steadily getting worse, not better as is the intention in allowing a corporate slave to be tagged by an employee. Therefore, the board is terminating your tagging rights."

"What? Cuddy -"

"I'm sorry, Wilson. It isn't working," Cuddy said sympathetically.

"He's using you, Dr. Wilson. He's slowly wrapping you around his little finger and soon he'll have you commit his misdeeds for him. He can only be whipped or sold. You can be professionally ruined. I cannot allow one of the hospital's slaves to do that maliciously or recklessly, particularly when your own record is exemplary with no disciplinary issues whatsoever. Therefore, your tagging rights are terminated. Linda, have Greg brought in," Nikolai said into the intercom.

A moment later the door opened and Greg was brought in between two security guards and put on his knees between Cuddy and Wilson, facing Nikolai. He stiffened and then went stoic when Nikolai repeated the board's decision and kept his eyes fixed to the floor as Wilson shakily removed his tag from Greg's collar.

Nikolai stood up and came around the desk. "I am now with full permission of the board, tagging Greg as mine exclusively with the four of you as witnesses. Dr. Cuddy, Greg will not be working his clinic hours for the next three days, as I will be conducting basic training and discipline exercises during this time. This will not count against him in this instance and he may continue to receive his pain scripts during this time. Dr. Wilson, arrange another meeting with Linda in the next couple of days to discuss those clinical trials. Thank you, that will be all," Nikolai said, dismissing both doctors and the security guards.

Greg stayed still where he'd been placed, kneeling on the rug in front of Nikolai's desk, every muscle in his back and arms tensed. He didn't know whether to expect a beating or to be fucked or to give his new master a blowjob. Greg would prefer the latter personally but he didn't think he'd get off so easy since Nikolai had said he would be doing training and discipline for three days.

Nikolai had taken the time to have some restraints and training devices installed in his office when he took over as chairman of the board and he moved about the room getting them ready. Finally he came over to where Greg was still kneeling and took him by his arm.

"Stand up," he said; giving him added leverage to do so and waiting until Greg had his balance to release him. "We'll set a few things straight first," Nikolai continued leaning against the edge of his desk. "No matter whether you are treating a patient and accorded the title Dr. House or standing before me as a slave, you will always refer to me as Master Nikolai. You will be leaving the building with me each night. If a case requires you to stay, I will stay as well. The board is ready to sell you off for the lack of respect you dole out every day. Not that I don't understand where it comes from. As a slave, you get no respect. You are a brilliant man and easily able to manipulate things into a form of revenge against them, even at the cost of multiple whippings. You may even be a touch of a masochist and like the pain. But I am the last chance you have to remain here and practice medicine. You are truly gifted at it, and I for one would hate to lose such talent, slave or free. Therefore, I've taken it upon myself to see if I cannot unravel your behavior and come up with more effective correction than yet another whipping. Now strip out of your clothes."

When Greg was naked, Nikolai put leather cuffs onto his wrists and lowered a chain from a pulley mounted on the ceiling. The chain was connected to a garage door opener type of winch. Nikolai used quick links to attach the cuffs to the chain then put a bit gag in Greg's mouth and hit the button on the remote control. The winch started up and lifted Greg up by the cuffs until he was just off of the floor, although he could extend his foot and put down the ball of his foot to the floor to take the pressure off his shoulders, though not for a long time. Nikolai merely went back to his desk and sat down, starting on his phone calls and paperwork for the day while Greg hung before him.

The only thing good about this, Greg thought, was that his bad leg wasn't hurting or strained by the position, although the rest of his muscles certainly were. He wished that Nikolai had blindfolded him so that he wouldn't have to see the time creeping slowly by on the desk clock or the assistant come in and out of the office, brushing by him as if he were no more than a hanging plant. The morning crept by and Nikolai didn't pay him any mind at all. Greg started to get antsy and made noise when he was on the phone, tipped one of the chairs over with his feet. Nikolai never blinked, merely told whoever was on the phone that the noise was being caused by a slave he was disciplining as he got up and moved the chairs out of his reach. As it neared lunchtime Greg was starting to get panicked. He used his good leg and knocked the desk lamp and pencil cup off the edge of the desk, looking pleadingly at Nikolai when he looked up at him.

"I see what you want. You're feeling out of control and panicked correct?" Greg moaned and nodded, tried to plead with Nikolai to take him down but of course the bit didn't allow him to speak intelligible words. "Unfortunately, that would reinforce your behavior that you can act out and get what you want, so no, I will not release you from these restraints."

Greg groaned out deep and let his head drop backwards as he flailed his feet again, but Nikolai merely moved things out of his reach and sat back, letting him kick at the desk until he hung still again in exhaustion. After a few minutes he picked his head up again and made a grunting attempt at a word.

"Yes? What do you need?" Nikolai asked him.

Greg grunted again in frustration and jerked his head down at his penis then back up to Nikolai, twice in succession.

"You need to urinate?"

Greg groaned in relief and nodded frantically. Nikolai went into the bathroom and came back out with a male urinal bottle, eased it over the head of his cock. Greg found the whole thing humiliating, less so than pissing himself, but still. Nikolai had brought out a cloth as well as the urinal, first wiping Greg's face, neck and chest, then wiping off his cock. He took the urinal into the bathroom and dumped it, washed it out and set it back into place. He washed his own hands and came back out to the desk.

Nikolai did not release Greg during the day at all, even though he conducted a meeting with Cuddy while Greg was hanging there silently. At the end of a long day, Greg was completely undone by the treatment. Nikolai lowered him to the floor with the winch and Greg went all the way down, unable to stand up on his feet at the moment. Nikolai let him sit there, unclipping the cuffs from the chain and removing the bit. He went into a refrigerator and brought back a bottle of ice water and handed it to Greg but his arms were too spent from hanging by them all day, so Nikolai held the bottle for him until he'd drunk his fill.

Nikolai brought over his clothes as well as his cane and a coat, which Cuddy had brought down at her meeting. Greg slowly got dressed, not out of defiance but pure exhaustion. His muscles were all trembling at the effort it was taking to get his clothes on and he couldn't manage getting his shoes tied at all. He could feel his eyes burning at feeling so helpless while Nikolai stooped down and tied his shoes for him as though he was a child. A leash was clipped onto his collar and Nikolai steadied him with one arm as he got to his feet, making sure that he could walk, however slowly and unsteadily. Then he picked up his briefcase, shut off the lights and headed out through the clinic to the parking lot. Greg was put into the back seat of the car and Nikolai drove off headed toward home.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arrival at Nikolai's home, Greg was immediately stripped out of his clothing again by a slave who met them at the door. This slave was also naked but had an open robe on that went all the way to the floor. The slave started to lead him away and Greg froze, looking back at Nikolai, fearful about what he might be headed into and wanting to stay with his new master. The slave stopped and said quietly, "Master Nikolai."

Nikolai looked over and took in at once what was happening. "Greg, calm down. Sebastien is going to take you to get cleaned up and show you where you'll sleep. Go with him now."

Greg nodded and followed Sebastien into the hallway and down to a lower floor. "Do you have to use the leash? I'll follow you on my own," Greg asked.

Sebastien stopped and turned to look at Greg, reading him, and then nodded and took the leash off. "See that you do. You can speak and ask questions of me down here. But you should know and be aware that my loyalty lies with Master Nikolai not you, so if you say anything that endangers him, yourself, or me, I will take that to him immediately. Regular questions and conversation don't fall into that category unless he asks me specifically."

"Fair warning," Greg conceded but said nothing more, merely trailing behind Sebastien.

"Here's your room. Mine is next door, that's Maddie's there. She's the cook and laundress. I take care of the house."

"So what's going to happen tonight?" Greg asked as he stepped into the room and looked around. The room was sparsely barren, lights on the wall, a plain twin bed and a hard backed chair. It was luxurious for slave quarters, having a private room. It even had a door although it did not lock. It was more than the cubby hole he had in the diagnostics office and way better than the slave dorms in the hospital basement.

"You're to shower and rejoin the master for the evening. Your clothes will be washed and returned to you by morning. The shower is this way. You should get started. Master will be expecting us back in half an hour."

Greg stepped into the shower and got washed up, letting the hot water steam away the worst of the aches he had. There were some nice thick towels in the room that reminded him of Wilson, but he pushed that thought from his mind. Half an hour later, he followed Sebastien back up to a large den where Nikolai sat at a table with Maddie setting dishes of food down. A separate table with two chairs was off to the side and a quick check of no other chairs convinced Greg that he wasn't getting any dinner tonight.

Nikolai nodded approval that Greg was walking without a leash. "Greg, come here and sit down on the floor," he ordered, pointing at the floor right at his feet. Greg took his position on the floor with resignation because the food really smelled good. He heard the sounds of the food being served and then Maddie and Sebastien settled at their table to eat. Nikolai ate a few bites, his free hand stroking Greg's hair. After a few minutes, he tapped Greg's chin. "Open," he said, holding a fork out with a piece of beef on it. Greg opened his mouth and took the offered food. It was really good and he hummed in approval hoping that wasn't the only bite.

"Maddie, it seems Greg approves of your cooking as much as we do," Nikolai said and Maddie laughed a little and said thank you, Master.

Nikolai kept feeding Greg throughout the meal until he actually was feeling full. A shift of plates happened and soon the fork came back with a thick bite of chocolate cheesecake and Greg was certain he'd gone to heaven. Once the meal was over, Nikolai moved to an armchair in front of the fireplace, having Greg sit at his feet again. He positioned him with his back against the chair and pulled Greg's head back onto his lap so that he was staring up at the ceiling.

"I have a theory about your behavior Greg. Want to hear it?" Nikolai asked, watching as Greg's eyes darted one side to the next, debating whether to answer, and then quietly assented.

"I think that your position as doctor, supervising three fellows and solving challenging cases, makes it difficult for you as a slave. You get mixed messages all day long. One moment you're a slave, the next you're the department head of diagnostics. This is confusing to you and makes it difficult for you to effectively moderate your behavior. So I am going to make sure that you get enough clear blocks of time to be treated as a slave to balance out your time as a doctor."

"But ... I do get treated like a slave," Greg said, frowning as he tried to follow the line of thought. "The guards ... other doctors..."

"Yes, but those are short moments, easily broken by the appearance of your team and having a case to work on. And let's be honest, a few crude encounters with a guard or a blow job given to a doctor who's getting his jollies doesn't really amount to the reality of things. So I've decided to make sure that your status is clear in your mind."

"Oh yeah, because wearing a collar, having to give blow jobs to anyone who wants one and getting whipped isn't enough to tell me that I'm a slave," Greg said sarcastically.

"Apparently not," Nikolai said, "judging from your records and your tone of voice. You get too much time alone living in the diagnostics office. No more."

Nikolai stood up and drew Greg up to his feet. "So we'll start right now. Stand still." Nikolai proceeded to run his hands over Greg's entire body, including the scar on his thigh before hefting his balls and rolling them in his hands. Greg shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He hated being handled and taken; he preferred to give a mind blowing blow job and get away as quickly as possible, but that wasn't going to happen this time. Nikolai didn't do anything to stop him from fidgeting until Greg actually stepped away.

"I said stand still," Nikolai ordered, taking hold of his neck and pressing on the pressure points that threatened to render him unconscious if he used more pressure. Greg hoped he would but Nikolai knew what he was doing. He kept his hold and walked Greg over to another part of the room where he pushed a button, dropping a bar from the ceiling. "Take hold of the bar," he ordered and Greg reached up and took hold. It was fairly low, letting him stand normally and put his hands just above the level of his head. "Now hang on to it and don't let go."

Nikolai resumed touching Greg, arousing him with expertise despite Greg's best efforts to think of other things to forestall his reaction. Greg heard Nikolai open his pants and lube his own cock then set it against Greg's ass. "You are mine now, Greg," he said as he inexorably pushed himself inside until his balls hit Greg's ass. "I'm going to make sure that you know that and remember that each and every day." Nikolai started thrusting, deep but slow, hitting Greg's prostate with the barest nudge while he continued to tease at his head and balls with his fingers. Soon Greg was beside himself with arousal, despite his wishes not to be. He clung to the bar with a death grip and moaned out his frustration.

"You're ready for more now?" Nikolai asked quietly, his voice husky with arousal as well. Greg couldn't form any words, just nodded and moaned, trying to push back against Nikolai. "That's it, take all of me that you can," Nikolai encouraged, thrusting forward to meet Greg's backward movement, striking his prostate full on. The stimulation robbed sight from Greg and even thought, as he matched his movements to his master's thrusts and was taken over the edge into a long, shuddering orgasm.

Nikolai held onto Greg and eased him to the floor after he came, going to get a warm bowl of soapy water. He cleaned himself first, then knelt down and cleaned Greg up as well. Leaving Greg where he lay for the moment, he moved around to a drawer and withdrew a large dildo on a harness. Greg let out a whine when he saw it and shook his head slightly.

"No isn't an option, Greg," Nikolai said quietly, stroking his slave's head calmly. "This will help you remember. It's a replica of my own cock, so you'll continue to feel me with you. Roll over." Greg rolled over onto his side and pulled up his knees, as Nikolai lubed and inserted the dildo, then strapped it into place, closing it with a small lock in the back.

"If you need to have a bowel movement, go to Sebastien and he will see to it. Now you've had a long day. Go to bed. You'll be going into work with me tomorrow."

He helped Greg to his feet and got his cane for him. Greg felt completely stuffed with the dildo in and he walked carefully and slowly back to his room, lying down on his bed and letting his tears fall at having been thoroughly undone by this treatment. Sometime later that night he felt his bowels cramping. He lay still a long time, trying to calm it, but finally he got up and went to knock on Sebastien's door. Sebastien came to the door and nodded, bringing a key and unlocking the harness. Sebastien washed it off and got it lubed up while Greg went to the restroom and when he had finished, Greg leaned resignedly over the end of the bed and Sebastien slid the dildo back into place, relocking the harness.

The next morning, Sebastien came into the room to wake Greg up and bring his clothes in to him. "Get dressed and come up to the dining room, Master Nikolai is waiting for you," he said, disappearing again and Greg realized with dismay that he would be wearing the dildo during the day. He pulled on his clothes and shoes and made his way up to the dining room where Nikolai was seated and got laboriously to his knees at his master's feet.

Nikolai didn't speak to him though he did flash him a smile of approval that eased Greg's frayed nerves. Maddie carried in breakfast and left again and a moment later a bowl of scrambled eggs was held in front of him with a couple of wedges of toast sticking up from one edge. Greg took the bowl and ate in silence, using his fingers since no utensil had been provided. When he finished, Nikolai wiped his hands clean with a wet cloth and handed him a cup of coffee, while he made some early morning phone calls. Soon Nikolai rose to his feet, motioned Greg to stand as well, snapping on a leash once he was stable.

"I have some errands to run this morning before going into the office and you will accompany me. I will not start you out gagged and shackled but whether that remains true depends on your ability to behave and remain silent. Come," Nikolai said, leading him out and putting him into the back seat of the car. Greg endured an hour and a half worth of errands that morning, requiring him to get in and out of the car several times and moving the dildo within him, getting him aroused as it hit just the right spot. They went to the dry cleaner, the bank, the post office, a barber shop where Nikolai got his hair cut and left Greg kneeling by the door, the leash clipped to a ring over his head. Finally, they arrived at the hospital and after signing in and getting his messages, Nikolai led Greg to his office.

"Sit down on the sofa," he ordered as he removed the leash from Greg's collar. "You're going to be putting together a proposal for an investors meeting today. Linda will bring you the finished copies. You need to collate and bind them, then put together a folder for each investor with these items in each folder," he said, putting a box on the floor at Greg's feet, containing printed nametags, pens and a small notepad along with pocket folders. "One nametag on the top right outer corner, the other left inside for the investor to wear in the meeting."

Greg nodded, clearly less than enthused with the activity.

"If you don't want to do this, you can spend the day like you did yesterday," Nikolai said as he walked over to his desk and sat down.

"No," Greg said quickly, shaking his head. "No, Master Nikolai. I'll put the proposals together."

"Good. And no messages of your own, should you recognize any of the names, hear?" Nikolai said, smirking at Greg's momentary panic and adamant no.

Linda brought in the boxes of copies and, much to Greg's dismay; the proposal was forty pages long with over 100 investors invited. Greg sighed and started to carefully lay out each pile of copies along the edge of the coffee table and second sofa to start collating them. By lunchtime he still had about a third of the collating left to do, as he had interspersed it with getting the folders set up to break the monotony every time he started to pull things out of order. Nikolai ordered in a sandwich, chips and drink for him from the cafeteria.

"I have a lunch meeting, so I will be going out," Nikolai said as he set Greg's food down on a side table. "Go ahead and eat. Use the restroom. I'll be securing you while I'm gone. When I return, you'll finish this task up. The meeting is at 6pm and I want all of this ready ahead of time."

Nikolai made a few calls while Greg ate his food and used the bathroom. When he was finished, Nikolai put the wrist cuffs on him and secured him as he had been the day before, winched just off the floor but without the bit gag.

"Resist the temptation to kick the furniture today. I excused that behavior yesterday; I won't excuse it today. You now know what to expect in this situation. Linda will keep watch over you while I am gone. If you truly have a need, call for her and she will come. Do NOT misuse that privilege. I will return in about an hour and a half."

Nikolai left his office, turning off the lights and leaving Greg hanging there in the semi-dark. Greg was frustrated at being left like this although it was stretching out the kinks in his back that he'd gotten by being bent over the papers all day. At least he knew he'd be released fairly quickly today since the proposals still needed to be finished. He couldn't figure out what Nikolai was doing though and that bothered him. Part of it was obvious; reminding him of the basic training he'd received when he became a slave. But once he was back in his department, day after tomorrow, he couldn't see how this was going to change much of anything. Except keep him from getting used by every guard on a break, he thought with a nod. He also wanted to know what discipline Nikolai had in mind. It was better just to know what it was, go through it once, and then it wasn't such a big threat. But, he supposed, that was probably why Nikolai didn't tell him what he was planning; to keep it a mysterious threat. That meant it probably wasn't anywhere near as bad as he was imagining in his mind. That thought led him straight into temptation and he toyed with the leg of the chair just at the limits of what he could reach, trying to decide whether to risk it or not. Finally, he decided not to push it quite yet and sighed, wishing Nikolai would come back.

Right on time, Nikolai returned to his office, flipping on the lights as Greg closed his eyes against the glare at first. "You chose to obey me. Very well done indeed," Nikolai said with a smile of approval as he came around in front of Greg. He lowered Greg to the floor and released him from the cuffs. "Get yourself something to drink from the fridge and finish the proposals for me."

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg answered quietly, making his way over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of juice though he stopped and turned to his master, holding up the bottle for his approval. Nikolai nodded and Greg took the juice over to the sofa, finishing it off and setting the bottle aside before he went back to work on the proposals. Greg finished up the proposals around five pm and loaded them back into the boxes just as Linda came in with a cart to take them to the conference room. He lifted the boxes onto the cart for her as Nikolai read over the agenda that she had brought for him to approve.

"This is good. Get copies for all the principal speakers," Nikolai said coming over to hand it back to Linda. He clipped the leash onto Greg's collar and secured the other end to the trolley. "Greg will go with you to the conference room and help get these folders laid out on the entry table in alphabetical order for the investors. Bring him back down here when you're finished."

"Of course, Mr. Airsid," Linda said with a brisk nod. "Come Greg. You push the trolley," she said holding open the office door. Greg nodded and obediently pushed the cart out of the office, waiting while she ran the agenda copies then riding up the elevator with her to the conference hall. She released the leash from the trolley and he lifted up the boxes, starting to lay out the folders on the table. To his surprise, she helped him do the sorting and they were done in only a few minutes. Then she held the leash and walked beside him back down to Nikolai's office.

While they'd been gone, Nikolai had taken a shower and changed into the suit he'd picked up from the dry cleaner that day. Greg raised his eyebrows appreciatively at the figure he cut.

"You approve?" Nikolai asked with a smirk as he noticed Greg's look.

"Armani is always in style," Greg answered.

"My thoughts exactly. You'll be staying here during the meeting."

Greg's eyes darted involuntarily toward the winch on the ceiling.

"Yes, exactly right. Again, I urge you to resist the temptation to knock over the furniture or anything off my desk. Linda will not be here, so I'll close the blinds and lock the door. You'll be on your own for the duration of the meeting. Strip down," Nikolai ordered.

Greg toed off his shoes, trying to figure out what was going on now. "Master Nikolai?"

"Yes, Greg?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Greg asked, hating how pathetic he sounded at that moment.

"Nothing at all. You've done very well today. But I can't take you into the meeting with me. Remember that I said you'd spend three full days as a slave only? I don't have a cage to secure you in and so I choose to do so with these bonds. I know you can bear them without harm after yesterday. You need to know that I will take measures to ensure your safety in that you are not able to wander or get into trouble anywhere while I'm gone. And I know that if someone comes in to you, they have violated my specific orders and private office and will be fired. Now stand up and come over here."

Greg finished pulling off his clothes, folding them and setting them aside on a chair before stepping up to Nikolai. Nikolai put on the cuffs then raised him up with the winch. "I'll be back as soon as I can, but it's likely to be two or three hours," he said, before pulling the blinds closed and turning off the lights. The door closed and Greg was alone, this time truly alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Although he knew that this was only about twice as long as lunch had been, the fact that it was dark outside and the office was truly dark made it seem like it was much longer. He couldn't see anything to give him a frame of reference for how much time had passed. He kept thinking that he heard someone coming up to the door of the office, rattling the knob, but no one came in. After a long time, he was sure that Nikolai wasn't coming back that night. He was stiff, hungry and needed to take a piss. Soon, irritation gave way to anger and he started pulling on the chair next to his good leg, getting it close enough to stand on and finally take his weight off his shoulders. This gave him enough slack that he could undo the quick links that held him to the winch chain and he fiddled with them with his fingers, sorely tempted to fully release himself and deal with the whipping he'd receive for it. A whipping would be better than just hanging around naked in the dark waiting for Nikolai to finish schmoozing the investors. After a while he heard someone in the outer office and keys jingling. Quickly he stepped off the chair and tried to push it back to some semblance of where it had been and closed his eyes against the lights as they came on.

Nikolai came into the room and took in the scene carefully. Greg was swinging on the chain, too much to account for just being startled by his entrance after the dark silence. His eyes settled on the chair moved off kilter from its original position. He nodded, having expected some defiance this evening.

"Did I or did I not urge you to resist the temptation to disturb the furniture?" he asked in a stern, unforgiving tone.

Feeling more than a little guilty, Greg could only nod in agreement.

"But you did touch this chair. I can only assume to pull it close enough to stand on, am I correct?" He could see by the flicker of apprehension in Greg's face that he was. Nikolai picked up the phone and dialed. "Sebastien, I won't be home until late this evening. Go ahead and eat then close up for the night. I'll deal with Greg when we return."

Nikolai lowered the chain and unhooked the cuffs from it. Greg figured he was about to get whipped but at least he wouldn't be hanging around like a plant. Nikolai went to the closet and pulled out a box which he carried back to the desk and opened it in Greg's sight. It was full of leather restraints. One went over Greg's head like a sling, one band over his forehead the other around his chin and buckled behind his head. A body harness that reminded Greg of a parachute harness went on next. The dildo was pulled out of his ass and replaced by a large butt plug that stretched him even wider. His eyes went wide when he realized it had been coated with something that was making him itch. Nikolai then strapped his legs to each other and hooked the winch chain to a central ring on the back of the harness, lifting him up a few inches until he tipped forward. Both hands were drawn up behind him and clipped to the harness ring at the small of his back, likewise the sling around his head and the straps around his ankles were clipped to the same harness ring. Then the winch raised him up into the air so that he was hanging hog tied, with his head held back and up.

Greg struggled at the end of the chain as the itching worsened, groaning and trying to plead with Nikolai. Although uncomfortably in a bound position, his limbs didn't hurt since the body harness was actually supporting his weight very evenly and there was very little pressure on his joints.

"I know, you were probably expecting a whipping," Nikolai said as he leaned against the desk. "You and I both know that whippings do nothing for you. They are an easy way out of doing something you don't want to do or a relatively small price to pay for doing something you do want to do. No, I have to get creative to have discipline have any effect on you." He put clamp on nipple rings and a cock ring, arousing Greg to full erection then again turned off the lights and left the office, although this time he went only as far as his office waiting area and settled to read by the security lights coming through from the clinic. He only wanted Greg to have the illusion of being alone.

Greg was left to his misery for three full hours. He was still painfully erect; his ass was itching so bad he felt like it was spreading through his whole body. He couldn't move at all thanks to the way Nikolai had trussed him up and by the time Nikolai returned he was in tears. He moaned, pleading that he was sorry, to let him down, although none of his words could be made out because of the bit.

The winch was lowered and Nikolai freed him from all the cuffs, straps and harness, though he left the butt plug and cock ring in place along with the nipple clamps. "Now when I put you up there, I expect you to simply hang there and wait for my return. Not to try to avoid doing so by standing on the furniture, not to try to provoke a response by overturning objects on my desk or making a great deal of noise. Now get dressed. It's time to go home," he said, removing the bit.

Greg slowly stood up and got dressed, waiting miserably while Nikolai cleaned up and put things away. At last he came over with a leash, but instead of hooking it onto Greg's collar he held a leather tab up to his lips. Greg gave him a wide eyed look of surprise then slowly opened his mouth and gripped the leather with his teeth and was lead out of the building that way, past the night guard and into the back of Nikolai's car. He held on for the whole ride, even though he'd not been ordered to, but he didn't dare release it. Nikolai led him into den and took the leash from his mouth.

"Well done. Strip out of your clothes and set them in the chair by the door for Maddie to clean in the morning."

Greg undressed then came back to Nikolai, kneeling on the floor at his feet and even dared to kiss his feet, he was so eager to have this correction end. Nikolai stroked his hair and put a finger under his chin pulling him up to look at him.

"I will meet every challenge you give me head on, do you understand? I know you'll continue to test the boundaries and try to push the line back. This is done out of insecurity and inconsistency but I will show you consistency so that you can begin to feel secure, probably for the first time in your life unless I miss my guess. Lie over my lap and I'll end this correction."

Greg awkwardly spread himself over Nikolai's lap and he removed the butt plug, took another the same size but longer and coated it with another ointment before sliding it into Greg's ass, working it in and out until the last of the itching was soothed. Then he slid the dildo, also coated with the soothing agent back in and buckled it into place. "Stand up," he said quietly and gave him a steadying hand to do so.

Nikolai removed the nipple clamps, rubbing some oil onto his nipples and chest, back and arm muscles before releasing the cock ring and stroking him through a strong orgasm until he was drained. "Now go to bed," he said when Greg got his breath back. Greg nodded and went to his room going into the bathroom first to brush his teeth and wash his face then collapsed into bed. He realized that the butt plug had been so big that he couldn't really feel the dildo now and cursed himself that he actually was sorry he couldn't. Somehow he knew that he'd lose the battle for mastery with Nikolai and he could only hope the man would stay at PPTH for a good long while.

When he woke to Sebastien's prodding the next morning, his clothing was cleaned and folded for him on the chair in his room. Sebastien took off the dildo so that he could use the restroom and shower then put it back in and strapped it into place. Again he ate on the floor at Nikolai's feet, oatmeal this morning complete with brown sugar and a spoon, with orange juice and coffee and they were on their way to the hospital. Nikolai had chosen to use the leash he held in his teeth today and he couldn't imagine walking into the lobby like that but knew that he would all the same. The main entrance was full of people coming and going and they met up with Cuddy and Wilson about ten feet before the doors.

"Good morning, Dr. Cuddy, Dr. Wilson," Nikolai greeted. Both returned the greeting, Wilson a little stiffly, although he couldn't take his eyes off Greg, following along behind obediently, holding the leash in his teeth.

"Good morning, Mr. Airsid. I hear the investors were quite impressed with your proposal," Dr. Cuddy said with a smile, pleased to see such good behavior out of Greg.

"Well if you've heard so that confirms my feeling on the meeting," Nikolai said with a smile, as he held the door for her and Dr. Wilson to enter before them. "Dr. Wilson, we're still have our meeting this afternoon at 1pm?"

"Yes, yes, I've got everything on the new trials all put together for you," Wilson answered as they all walked to the desk to get their messages.

"Mr. Airsid, I have a message here for Dr. House," the nurse said, unsure what the proper procedure was at this point.

"Dr. House will not be in until tomorrow, Nurse Previn. If it is urgent, send it to Dr. Foreman to respond to, if not hold it until Dr. House arrives," Nikolai said casually, his whole attitude revealing that in his mind, Dr. House absolutely was not present, before starting toward his office with Greg in tow, but not before Greg cast a quick glance back at the message Nurse Previn was putting back into the rack. Normally he didn't read his messages much, but now the curiosity was nearly overwhelming his control to hang onto the leash as he was supposed to do. Fortunately, Nikolai's office was close by and the temptation was removed when they arrived. Nikolai did not remove the leather tab from his teeth, but wrapped the other end of the leash loosely around a floor lamp and went to his desk to answer his messages, leaving Greg tethered off to the side until he had finished.

Nikolai stood and walked over to Greg removing the leather tab from his teeth and wrapping the leash up, stroking his hand lightly down Greg's chest. "Today I have four meetings including a lunch meeting out. The first meeting is with an assistant for Linda. This one you will kneel at my side, eyes fixed on the floor and silent and I will be handling you while I am speaking with the candidate. I want to be sure of her reactions around slaves, since the hospital owns so many. She will be here in 40 minutes. Provided she passes this interview; I will offer her the job. While I am in my second meeting, you will play guide dog for her as she goes down to human resources and then give her a brief tour of the facilities she will most need to know; the cafeteria, the clinic, the conference and board rooms, as well as how to get to the diagnostics department. She will be introducing herself to your team so that they know that I have sent her for you when I have need. Once that is done, you'll return here. You are not to take on Dr. House at any time, even within diagnostics. Part of her test is to report your behavior honestly to me. You may of course feel free to test her, short of running away from her, and I will not reprimand you, UNLESS you do so as Dr. House instead of my slave Greg. In that case, I will reprimand you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg said, though he had a faint look of mischief at being allowed to test the new employee a little bit.

"Good. Your part in her testing is reward for your good behavior this morning. Dr. Cuddy has some charts that need to be reviewed which you will do for her until I return from lunch to meet with Dr. Wilson. You will be present for that meeting. As to what you will do the rest of the afternoon... we'll see how this part plays out. Now bring us both some coffee and amuse yourself with this until our job candidate arrives," Nikolai said, putting a handheld video game onto the corner of his desk.

Greg fixed them both a cup of coffee and put Nikolai's on the coaster he pointed to then picked up his game and settled onto the couch to play for a time as he drank his coffee. It seemed that no time had passed at all for Greg, though he'd played several levels of his game, when the intercom buzzed and Linda announced that the job candidate was there.

"Tell her I'll be with her in just a moment," Nikolai instructed as Greg rose up and put his coffee cup into the sink to be cleaned before bringing the video game back to Nikolai, who tucked it into the drawer of his desk, before getting out the file folder with the candidate's information on it and carrying it to the coffee table. "Greg kneel here, and face the coffee table," he said, placing him just off the arm of the sofa. Greg used the sofa and table to get down and relatively comfortable in a position he could hold for a while and dropped his eyes to the floor, though he was quite excited with the setup that Nikolai had in place. He hoped she got the job, so he'd get to play his part and show her around the hospital. The only part he wasn't looking forward to was taking her to diagnostics and having her introduce herself to Foreman with Mr. Airsid's slave instead of claiming his role of Dr. House within the department proper. No doubt Foreman would enjoy it though, he thought with a huff as Nikolai buzzed Linda to send the girl in.

"Ms. Walker, welcome. I am Nikolai Airsid, chairman of the board here at Princeton Plainsboro. Please have a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee, bottle of water?" he offered as he escorted her to the couches that bracketed the coffee table.

"Bottled water please, Mr. Airsid," she said, slightly nervous to be interviewed by the chairman himself as she sat down and crossed her legs properly, smoothing her skirt over her knees.

"Greg, water for our guest," Nikolai said as he took his seat himself. Greg stood up slowly and carefully, so as not to lurch forward on either of them, guessing that Nikolai wouldn't appreciate that unless it was a complete accident beyond his control to prevent. Actually, Greg found that his leg was not hurting as bad, freed from standing long hours in the clinic on it. He went to the refrigerator and got out a cold bottle of water as well as a napkin for the table top, popped the seal on the bottle and brought it over, putting it on the napkin in front of her before settling back down on the floor at Nikolai's side. His extra actions to serve the guest had not gone unnoticed and earned him a stroke of approval from Nikolai.

Nikolai conducted his interview of the candidate's job capabilities and schooling, all the while he was stroking Greg, starting with the back of his head and neck then moving to his shoulder and upper arm, the side of his face, and across his chest, and Greg shuddered under his hands as they deliberately aroused him. His nipples hardened and were plainly visible through the fabric of the tee shirt he was wearing.

Nikolai approved of Ms. Walker's job qualifications and that she had only faltered once, initially when he began a more provocative stroke on Greg, when answering his questions, but quickly recovered herself and maintained her focus. "Now you indicated in your second interview that you have never owned a slave nor worked in a company that owned one, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," she answered. "The college I attended had slaves in the maintenance and cafeteria though, so I have had a small amount of experience with them around."

"Have you ever seen one in need of discipline or being disciplined? Have you ever seen one used sexually?" Nikolai asked, watching as a deep blush came over the young woman's face. "I'll take that as a yes," he half said and half asked.

"I... I have seen some of the other college staff using the slaves sexually before," she haltingly explained. "I've never seen one disciplined."

"Here at the hospital, the staff may use any slave not bearing an exclusive tag as Greg wears," he said, touching the tag with his fingers, "any time the staff is off duty and are encouraged to do so to keep the slaves ready and able to be used without damage. So you may see this as you move about the hospital on errands or tasks, although it is supposed to be done removed from public areas. Our patients and visitors prefer not to see this, nor to risk having their children see this."

"Discipline is another matter. When a slave requires a whipping that is done in the hospital basement by slave committee. I recommend that at some time during your tenure you attend one. That way, you will know what it entails, how it is done and the aftermath on the slave and you will be better suited to deem whether an offense is worthy of report to get such a discipline. Of course, should you choose not to report the offense, the burden of the discipline falls onto you to provide."

"What sort of discipline?" she asked warily.

"Greg stand up, remove your shirt and turn around," Nikolai ordered. Greg did so, baring his much scarred back to them. "This is the result of a judicial whipping, over and over again for a variety of behaviors, few of which, in my opinion, were serious enough for such a discipline. Greg received these before I came to the hospital. Some slaves get a whipping such as this and find it such a deterrent that they never misbehave again. Some need a few exposures before that lesson sets in. Some, like Greg here, come to view it as a price, or cost of doing business. In a perverse sense, like writing a check you know you do not have the funds to cover, but will once it has been bounced and redeposited along with the exorbitant fee the bank will charge you for this. Whatever you wrote the check for, you considered it vital enough to have immediately and pay the fee for. Put your shirt back on Greg."

"For slaves like Greg, a continually changing discipline must be in place, one of greater price to them than that of a judicial whipping. Sometimes even that is not enough for a slave that is of strong will and opinion. You will be asked only to administer certain initial steps and then return him to me for further disciplining. The order of the steps is thus; use of a leash snapped to the rings on his collar, a bit gag placed into his mouth, his hands cuffed behind him which deprives him the use of his cane. I assure you he is well trained enough that he will comply with your orders. But you may eventually come to understand the very wide gulf between compliance and willing obedience. Once you reach the point of having him cuffed, you should immediately bring him here to me, as that is as far as I will authorize you to go."

"On the other hand, one that I find is not used anywhere near enough, you will also be asked to offer reward for good behavior. Initially, this is for simply not requiring any of the initial steps of discipline I've just laid out, but with time and experience, you will learn to reward for obedience. Rewards for most slaves are quite simple, verbal praise, food that they are not normally given, though you must be sure that you have them eat in it in your presence to save them from accusations of theft by security. Greg enjoys food rewards, his favorites being red suckers and french fries. I have a handheld video game that he enjoys playing. He is also and mostly praised with touch," Nikolai explained as he caressed Greg's face and allowed his hand to continue downward to his chest.

"Kneel at her feet, Greg," Nikolai ordered. Greg stiffened at the order, immediately on edge as to what Nikolai would allow her to do to him, but he felt Nikolai's hand stroke his back comfortingly. He took a quick breath and shuffled over, kneeling at her feet, between the coffee table and the sofa as Nikolai leaned back in his seat.

"Gently run your fingertips down the side of his face from temple to jawline," Nikolai instructed her. Greg stiffened reflexively as she touched him lightly and she pulled her hand away.

"He's flinching back, Mr. Airsid, clearly he doesn't want me to touch him," Ms. Walker said, unnerved at the twist that had been put to this interview.

"Yes, he is flinching and in part, it is because he doesn't want you to touch him," Nikolai agreed. "Why do you think he feels that way?"

"Well... I think because as a slave he can't say who can and who can't touch him and that would make him resentful."

"Can you think of any other reasons? Not that this one isn't valid, but answers are rarely so clean-cut, Ms. Walker."

Ms. Walker frowned, puzzled as she turned her attention back to the slave, Greg, at her feet. He was breathing rapidly, his muscles kept flexing in his arms and his fingers twitched in the effort to remain still though he kept his eyes firmly on the floor. Carefully she reached out and touched his face again, and again he flinched as she made contact. This time, she didn't pull away but slowly stroked down his face in a light caress.

"Because he doesn't know me. Or even if I'm staying on," she guessed as she continued to caress his face and was surprised when he began to relax somewhat. "Because he doesn't know if you can control me the way you can control him," she added, her voice taking on the quality that Greg's often did when having an epiphany.

"Very good, Ms. Walker. Add all of those reasons to the stark fact that Greg has known little friendly touch in his lifetime and you have a complete answer. I am prepared to offer you the position on the spot Ms. Walker. If you want it, the job is yours."

"Thank you, Mr. Airsid. I accept the offer," she said with a confident smile.

"Excellent. Greg will take you down to HR to fill out your paperwork and get your badge then take you on a short tour of main areas of the hospital before returning you here. I will be working closely with the diagnostics department and you'll be introducing yourself to the assistant director and the team today. The department director, Dr. House, won't be in until tomorrow." Nikolai handed her some papers with locations she should be shown and gave her a hand up. "Here is a leash, should he stray too far from you or should anyone question his presence in an area without me. I will have to instruct you on the use of cuffs and bits, but for now, if you have need of it, you can use a pen or pencil for the job. Command him to hold it in place, he will do so."

Nikolai gave a copy of the tour to Greg and ordered him to his feet and to show her around. Linda looked up with a pleased expression after Greg and Ms. Walker passed through into the clinic area. "She passed the test then?"

"The one to be hired, yes. The next one is at play right now."

"You've given him leave to misbehave for her, haven't you?" Linda asked knowingly.

"I have indeed. I need to know if she can praise and correct him, so that I can make other arrangements for him should you not be available to cover my absence when he is in my office. And he has been remarkably obedient this morning, so permission to tease is a reward. I strongly believe he'll leave it at that."


	4. Chapter 4

Greg led Ms. Walker out into the clinic area with a pleased smirk though he kept his eyes down to hide it from the other staff. He gave her a short overview of the clinic and she introduced herself to Nurse Previn. Greg was eyeing the message rack and noticed that the message for him was still there. So nothing urgent then. Foreman was surely in by now. Greg edged around and tried to get a moment where he could sneak a peek at the message while the two were speaking, but before he could Nurse Previn had turned back and was giving him a suspicious look. Greg diverted his task from the message to the sucker jar and snatched one from it.

"Those are for the kids, not you," Nurse Previn said, holding out her hand for the sucker. Greg looked up deliberately at Ms. Walker and took a step back, refusing to hand it over.

"You have plenty," he said in a low voice. "I only want one."

"Too bad. Give it to me now," she ordered.

Ms. Walker watched for a moment, amused at what to her seemed ridiculous in one sense. Greg was right. The jar had to have 100 suckers in it. One certainly wouldn't be missed. On the other hand, a slave was defying a direct order from a free person, and an employee of his owner no less. She noted that security had taken an interest in the standoff and decided that that was the most ridiculous part of all this; involving security in a dispute over a single sucker. She stepped around the desk and quickly snapped the leash onto his collar.

"Put the sucker back into the jar at once, Greg," she ordered in her best babysitter voice. Considering she had four younger brothers, it was pretty good. Greg looked at the leash in her hand and then up at her eyes before slowly reaching out to put the sucker back in the jar. She nodded in approval and reached out to stroke his face, surprised when he stiffened briefly. It had been an honest, in-grained flinch and she glanced over at the security guards who seemed... disappointed that Greg had obeyed.

"Now show me the way to HR so that I can fill out my paperwork," she said, taking a step. He let the leash tighten but she didn't move or lessen the tension and after a couple of seconds testing he fell into step beside her.

"This way," he said leading her to the elevator. They made the rest of the tour after a 30 minute stop in HR, the conference rooms, the mail room, and the cafeteria. Greg was delaying taking her up to diagnostics and tried to get out of it. "Wouldn't you rather wait until Dr. House is in tomorrow to go up to diagnostics? Save you a trip after all."

"Another trip would help me remember the way better," she replied. "Why don't you want to go to diagnostics? Are they as eager to punish you as security is?"

Greg's head shot up at that. "No! I... I can't tell you right now. I just don't want to."

"Mr. Airsid was specific; you don't have a choice. Show me the way."

Greg grimaced and led her back to the elevator and up to the fourth floor to the diagnostics room, hoping against hope that no one was there, but his heart sank. Not only was the entire team there, but Wilson and Simmons from ER was there too. They all turned when the door opened. Greg tried to resist going in, muttering that she could tie him in the hallway, but she insisted he come in.

"Hi, I'm Allison Walker, Mr. Airsid's second assistant. I was asked to come up here and introduce myself to you all. He said that we would be working closely with your department," she said, feeling awkward as no one, not one of them had moved or said a word and instead seemed to be staring at Greg, not even acknowledging her presence.

"Answer the lady," Greg snapped. "I can't be that good looking compared to her for you all to be drooling over me."

Allison's jaw dropped at the tone in Greg's voice. It was angry and demeaning, as was the look in his eyes, though strangely enough it broke the uneasy silence in the room. Still, she didn't take that kind of talk from her brothers and wasn't about to take it from him.

"You will remain silent, Greg," she said firmly and pulled out a pencil from the folder HR had given her, holding it out in front of his face. "Take it. Now."

Greg stared at her, silently pleading with her not to do this, not here, not now. But he'd snapped without thinking, wanting only to hurry the process along and get out of diagnostics. He knew this crossed Nikolai's line of acting like Dr. House. He dropped his eyes and softly said, 'sorry' then took the pencil between his teeth.

Wilson introduced himself and all the rest to her while he stood there, holding the pencil and feeling like a damn fool. She asked them a couple of questions about Dr. House and got some stumbling answers and finally they finished up. She picked up the leash and headed back to the elevator bank with him. Once they were in the car she turned to him.

"You're Dr. House. Aren't you?" she asked, knowing she was right. Greg hesitated then nodded, still holding the pencil in his teeth. "Why is he saying that you won't be in until tomorrow then? Are you being punished?"

Greg wobbled his head back and forth as if to say yes and no. Allison took the pencil out of his mouth with a shake of her head. "Then why?"

"Part punishment. Part training. He says that the reason I act out a lot, which I do, is because I don't have clear times being a slave as well as a clear time being a doctor. That trip to diagnostics was more of a test for me than anything for you."

"Did you pass?"

"No."

Allison nodded then smiled suddenly. "You reminded me of my youngest brother. He's really protective. Here. Pass or not, I appreciate you jarring them out of that weird silence," she said and fished a sucker out of her pocket, pulling off the wrapper and holding it out to him. "Maybe I should have used this as a bit for you even earlier," she smirked and he gave her an answering smirk as he opened his mouth and let her pop it in.

She led the way back to Nikolai's office where they had to wait while he finished up his meeting. Greg knelt on the floor, still leashed, next to her chair and sucked on the candy sucker but he was nervous, wondering what Nikolai would decide.

The meeting ended and Nikolai called them back in, had Greg kneel between them while he questioned her about the tour and Greg's behavior. Allison answered him honestly, even describing the snap in diagnostics but she included the reason behind it and that he obediently took the 'bit' pencil and remained still and silent afterward.

"I took the bit out on the way here. I wanted to know if he knew why you would do that to him. I've figured out that he is Dr. House. That seemed ... harsh almost cruel."

"I suppose it is. But I have my reasons which I will not share with you at his time. This is retraining for him and the method is entirely mine to choose. I think even Greg will confirm that he has received far crueler treatment than this." Greg met her eyes and nodded soberly. "Do you still desire the job, Ms. Walker?"

"Yes. I will be in tomorrow at 8am."

"Excellent. I look forward to working with you. And I appreciate your concern for him. In time, things will be clearer. For now, you will simply have to trust me."

Nikolai showed her to the door and then turned back to Greg. "Well, you didn't behave as well as I had hoped," he said and Greg sagged in place. "But you did behave better than I expected. Still, that tone of voice that was Dr. House. I know it and you know it. Correct?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg acknowledged. "They just looked so stupid standing there staring at me like that, ignoring her."

"Ah, that's convenient in that it's true, but it's far from the truth of why you did it. You felt stupid. You felt uncomfortable. You snapped to spare yourself the experience that I wanted you to have. Is this not so?"

Greg said nothing, clearly struggling to find another explanation and finally could only nod in agreement.

"However, you took her correction obediently and finished out obediently. In that I am well pleased. But you cannot override my will with your own. I gave you a blank check for misbehavior in every way but one. You'll serve your punishment later this evening. For now, you are due with Dr. Cuddy. I'll come and pick you up when I return," Nikolai ordered.

Greg went across the hall, knocking on Cuddy's door and entering when she called to him. "I have the files that need reviewing on the coffee table for you. But as your master has ordered, you'll sit on the floor to do them. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Greg answered and went to the stack of charts, sitting down on the floor. "What am I reviewing them for?"

"These are from the first year residents and the red flagged are the new interns. The chief resident has the flu and these are needed by the end of tomorrow. You need to check over all their work, what they caught, what they missed. These are copies not the actual files, so feel free to mark them up but leave them for me to sign."

Greg got to work on the files, gleeful to be given permission to mark them up but then he began to worry about what punishment Nikolai had in mind for his slip up in diagnostics. It took all of his concentration to set aside speculation and do a careful review of the files and left no energy for sarcastic remarks.

Cuddy kept shooting glances up at him, wondering at how well behaved he was. She had heard about the incident in diagnostics from Cameron. Perhaps he'd been caned by Nikolai, she thought. He was normally more obedient and submissive immediately after a caning.

"Greg, there's a sandwich and bottle of water in the fridge for your lunch. You may get it now," she said at noon.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, struggling to his feet. He fetched the water and sandwich, carried them back to the table, safely away from the files then came to kneel in front of the desk.

"Yes, Greg?" Cuddy asked, after finishing her signature on a file.

"Ma'am, may I use the restroom?"

"You may use mine. Be neat about it."

"Yes, ma'am," Greg said, actually a bit relieved to not have to walk through the hospital halls to the public restroom right now. He went in and relieved himself, washed up his hands and checked to make sure the bathroom was clean before going out to eat his lunch. He finished up quickly and returned to his work a bit worried. He wasn't sure he could get through them all before Nikolai returned and didn't want to draw another punishment. All too soon, Nikolai was back.

"Dr. Cuddy," he greeted. "How's the review coming?"

"Very well, he's made it through all but these last ten. I can finish it up and have them all signed a day ahead of time. Thank you for sending him over," Cuddy said with a smile.

"You're very welcome," Nikolai said, returning her smile and crossing to Greg. "Come along, Greg. We have more meetings this afternoon."

Nikolai took Greg back to his office. Dr. Wilson was sitting in the waiting room, just a couple of minutes early for their meeting. "Come in, Dr. Wilson. Would you like something to drink? Coffee, water, juice?"

"Juice please," Wilson said taking the seat that Nikolai indicated on the couch and getting out the information on the cancer trial he was proposing. Nikolai brought over two juices and put them on the table.

"Just let me get Greg settled for our meeting and I'll be right with you." Nikolai calmly put cuffs on Greg's arms, folding them behind his back and lacing his forearms together with a leather strap. Then he took a bit that look vaguely like a pacifier and put it into his mouth, buckling it in place. "Kneel down right there, Greg," he ordered.

Greg did so and let out a groan at the way he was forced to sit straight up. It didn't allow him to hide from Wilson at all. Nikolai ignored him and sat down, going over the cancer trial with Wilson who kept shooting glances at Greg from time to time. Finally, Nikolai agreed to back Wilson's proposal to the board and after a few pleasantries and arrangements Wilson was packing up his files with Nikolai watching him closely.

"Go ahead and say what you wish," Nikolai said after a moment. "No recriminations, I promise you."

Wilson stared at him for a moment then burst out "How did you get him to behave so well? How did you gain his trust so fast? I tried, god I tried everything, for months and nothing worked. Three days later, he's holding a leash in his teeth following you as good as gold."

"I became his master," Nikolai answered simply. Greg snorted at the look on Wilson's face because it all sounded so arrogant, like something he would say. Nikolai glanced over at Greg and he cast his eyes down at the floor.

"I don't mean that as egotistical as it sounds," Nikolai said with a smile that broke some of the tension that Wilson was holding onto. "I mean, you have to be the master; first, foremost and always. Whatever else you become after that, the role of master has to claimed, proven, and fully maintained. Right now, we are in the proving stage. That can go on for quite a while, starting with large scale defiance and tapering off into the nuances of semantics and only an occasional visit to defiance."

"But... you say that like it's nothing of concern," Wilson said. "By law a slave can't refuse an order of a free man, especially his master, without severe consequences."

"That's taken to a ludicrous extreme in my opinion. The letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law. When a parent raises a child, they expect that child will obey them. They make rules; they enforce consequences for breaking those rules. The consequences are rarely severe. Those that are, we consider child abuse. But as a parent, we expect that the child is going to challenge our authority. Some will do it for longer and more aggravatingly for others. It is no different with a slave. People think of them as property. They shouldn't. Property can't think on its own. Owning a slave is the taking on of someone with permanent minor status. They are under your authority, your control, your complete care. Think about that Dr. Wilson. Make another appointment next week toward the end of the day if you're interested in carrying the discussion further."

Wilson thanked Nikolai for his time and for answering the question, lightly touching Greg's shoulder as he moved by and left the office. Nikolai locked the door, telling Linda to hold all callers, then returned to Greg and removed the gag, giving him some water to drink.

"He likes you very much," Nikolai observed.

"Yeah. Too much."

"You don't like him?"

"That's not what I said," Greg answered. "I like him. As a friend. Someone to have lunch with and pretend I was normal for 30 minutes."

"Ah, I see. You cannot ever consider yourself normal therefore equal. If you want to spend time with him, you must accept the relationship he gives you. The better your behavior and attitude, the more likely you are to enjoy the time spent with him. The more likely I am to allow him to take you on loan."

Nikolai had left his arms bound, so he lifted him slightly by the shoulders and put him sitting on his butt with his legs stretched out in front of him.

"I have one more meeting this afternoon, from 4 until 6pm with dinner and drinks after," Nikolai said as they went back into the office. "The meeting is not here. I was going to leave you here and allow you time alone in your office, but since you did not accept the experience I wanted you to have in diagnostics, you will be coming with me. Sit down on the floor in front of the desk until I'm ready to leave."

Time passed way too slowly before Nikolai came over, raised him up off the floor then released his arms. "Here," he said, handing him Vicodin and a bottle of water which Greg took eagerly and gratefully.

As soon as Greg finished the water, Nikolai held out the tab on the leash, which Greg took in his teeth and was soon in the back seat of the car. They arrived at a hotel, and Nikolai led him through the lobby, having him kneel down in the elevator facing the rear wall, then led him to the penthouse.

"Nikolai, I'm pleased you were able to make it."

"The investment portfolio you're offering was far too attractive to resist, Tobias," Nikolai answered, shaking the man's hand. "If all goes well, I'm hoping to invest for both the hospital and myself."

"I don't think you will be disappointed. The fund has done well this year, my friend. Come in, come in," he urged. "Francesca and Alex are already here; Timothy and Callum should be along any moment."

Nikolai stepped into the room and ordered Greg to kneel down at the edge of the seating area, where he'd be in full view of all the guests, still holding the leash in his teeth as a reminder to be silent. They clearly knew each other and caught up as the others arrived until Tobias cleared his throat and presented his information. Once business was completed, jackets and ties came off and more drinks were poured as music was put on and room service was called.

Nikolai got up and ordered Greg to his feet, taking the leash out of his mouth. "Strip off, Greg," he said as he laid the leash aside. Greg met his eyes, alarmed and pleading to be let off but Nikolai met that gaze resolutely and Greg ducked his head, removing his clothing, folding it and setting it aside. "You'll serve us this evening," he said, nodding toward the wet bar as he went back to his seat.

Greg hadn't done anything like this in the whole time he'd been a slave but felt himself slipping back into the slave persona. For half an hour he stood at the ready, refilling their drinks once, then was told to answer the door when room service arrived and serve their meals. During the meal and drinks after, Nikolai allowed the others to fondle and pose Greg in any way they wished, feeding him from a plate on the floor, but nothing more, stating that he wasn't trained well enough for that yet. Around ten o'clock, Nikolai told him to dress and led him back down to the car to head home.


	5. Chapter 5

Greg was roused the next morning by Sebastien who told him to shower and get ready for work. "There are some fresh clothes here that Master Nikolai ordered for you. I'll be back in ten minutes to put your harness back on."

Greg got showered, teeth brushed and trimmed his beard, just finishing up when Sebastien came back into the room. Greg bent over the foot of the bed as Sebastien seated the cleaned and lubed dildo within him and buckled the harness on then pulled on the clothes that had been laid out for him. Still jeans and a t-shirt but the jeans were a current trendy style and the t-shirt was a graphic style tee, closer to what he might have chosen when free, but just abstract pictures, no potentially insulting words. There was a very nice roll top to put on when seeing patients and even a sport coat to top it. Clearly there were benefits to being tagged by the chairman of the board. Once dressed he made his way out to the dining room, where Nikolai was, turning on command to let Nikolai see the fit of the clothes, then taking his usual place on the floor at Nikolai's feet.

When they arrived at PPTH, Greg still being led with the leash held in his teeth, Nikolai stopped to pick up the message for Dr. House, then led him into the elevators and on up to the diagnostics department.

"Good morning. I am Nikolai Airsid, chairman of the board," he began, still not releasing Greg from the leash, even as the fellows stared at Greg in astonishment. "As you have no doubt heard, I have personally tagged Greg. Any behavioral issues are to go directly to me, as well as any times where praise is in order. Anyone attempting to usurp my authority is to be reported to me at once. He has my full permission to use the elevators, to have this clothing that he is dressed in and carries. In fact, I require that he does. From the moment he arrives in this room with you, from today onward, he is immediately Dr. House to all of you. You will treat him with respect, for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine, if you cannot find it within you to do so merely because he is human, or I will see to your discipline. I do understand that he often does not return that respect to you. Anything you find overboard, you may email me and only me about and I will see to his discipline. I do not expect this to be made into a huge issue on either side. Clear?" Everyone nodded. "Good. I will check on him once daily for the beginning and then less often as his behavior merits, so expect to see me frequently. He is to work three hours daily in the clinic as well, unless you have a patient requiring his complete attention." Nikolai turned and took the leash tab from Greg's teeth. "Here is your message. You may return his call. Have a good day, Dr. House," he said waiting until Greg returned the favor.

"You too, Master Nikolai," he answered, remembering Nikolai's rules from day one and earning a smile of approval for doing so before Nikolai left the room and returned to his office. "Well? Don't just stand there catching flies! Have we got a case or not?" he demanded, startling the team back into action.

After getting the initial differential talked through and sending the team to begin testing, Greg settled into his office and checked out the message he'd gotten. It was a call for a consult, probably nothing at all interesting but it would delay going down to the clinic so… he picked up the phone and placed the call. The doctor on the other end of line was clearly relieved that Dr. House had returned his call but Greg cut the gush of gratitude short and asked for the particulars of the case. He thought he had the diagnosis but asked the doctor to send him the films first. They were in his email in short order; he spent some time going over them, then called the doctor back and gave him his diagnosis. That occupied an hour of his time but he couldn't delay going down to the clinic any longer.

He pulled on the new roll top and sport coat and went down to the clinic to put his three hours in. He felt much more at ease in clothes that weren't clearly slave issue attire and that let him not be quite so snarky to the patients he saw. He was just having his hours initialed by the nurses when Nikolai came out of his office.

"Dr. House," Nikolai greeted as he came over to him. "Join me for lunch," he added, and then headed toward the cafeteria. House followed him with his eyes then looked back at the nurses who were equally confused, nodded to them and went after Nikolai. Nikolai took him through the lunch line, buying both lunches and ushering him to a table then telling him to sit in the chair. They spoke quite casually, as two colleagues having lunch. Nikolai asked about the consult call and they were about through when House's pager went off. He glanced at it and looked up.

"Team's back with the test results," he said, not sure how this new situation worked. Could he just get up and go? Did he need to wait for permission?

"Then you'd better get back to diagnostics," Nikolai said calmly. House nodded, rose to his feet and headed back to the conference room.

At five-thirty, Nikolai came into the conference room and found the team deep in discussion. Their patient was unstable and they weren't any closer to an answer than they had been that morning. House sent the team for another battery of tests and stood staring at the white board, lost in thought.

"I take it we are spending the night here then," Nikolai said as he took off his tie and jacket.

"Patient's going to be dead in eight hours if we can't figure this out," House answered.

"I'll order in some food for all of us," Nikolai responded, calling Sebastien to let him know that they would be remaining at the hospital then he put in an order for some Chinese food, enough for House and his team as well as him, before settling into one of the chairs with his laptop.

The team came in one by one, warmed up a plate of food and ate as well, updating House on the test results and how the patient responded to them. House alternated between the conference room and his office, consulting the file, medical journals, bouncing the ball with his cane while perusing the films and such while Nikolai sat in the corner of the conference room observing House at work. Around 10pm, House finally had an epiphany and slipped on the roll top and jacket, limping out of the room at full speed with Nikolai trailing behind curiously. A quick exchange with his team in the hall and ordered treatment over testing resulted. The team looked at Nikolai who refused to get involved, before following House's orders. They returned to the conference room to wait. Finally, around midnight Chase came back into the room. "Patient's responding to treatment. Heart rate's stabilized and he's breathing on his own again."

"Good," House answered. "You three draw straws for who stays overnight. Page me if anything happens."

"I'll stay," Chase volunteered. "Foreman and Cameron stayed last time. See you tomorrow," he said, raising one hand in good night and headed back out of the conference room to relieve the other two.

"Well let's go home then," Nikolai said, picking up his bag and putting on his coat. House went into his office for his coat, turning out the lights and came back out to join him in the hallway. "That was an intriguing look into your work, I must say. I never truly appreciated the cases you got and how much knowledge and quick decisions were needed to reach an answer."

"Thanks. You're one of the only ones who knows, or even cares to find out," House answered from the back seat. He drifted to sleep on the ride home, shaken awake by Nikolai and stumbled into the house. Sebastien was waiting for them and he took Greg's arm and led him down to his bedroom, helped him get undressed and into bed.

Morning came far too soon as far as Greg was concerned. Sebastien woke him at 5:30 and led him immediately into Nikolai's room. Nikolai was lying reclined against the headboard of his bed. "Thank you Sebastien," he said. "Tie him to the bedposts." Greg found himself standing on a broad, low padded stool at the foot of the bed, arms held wide between the bed posts and his body oiled thoroughly, while Nikolai lay back down and lazily watched. "That will be all Sebastien. Wake me at 7:30," he said closing his eyes and falling back asleep with a few minutes of Sebastien turning out the light. Greg didn't dare move too much, not wanting to wake Nikolai nor make any noise so he merely hung there in silence. By 6:30 he was dozing himself, his shoulders stiff and his arms completely numb.

At 7:15 Greg woke as Sebastien entered the room again and stroked Greg to a full hard arousal then went and opened the curtains for light before lightly shaking Nikolai awake. Nikolai stretched and sat up, looking up at Greg with an appraising smile.

"That will be all, Sebastien," Nikolai said, dismissing him. Nikolai threw the covers off and revealed that he had slept naked. "Look at me, Greg," he ordered.

Greg looked down at him, taking in his master's body and growing erection.

"Keep your eyes on me. I want to see those beautiful blues; you understand?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg responded quietly.

Nikolai kept his gaze fixed on Greg and began to masturbate, taking his time to thoroughly enjoy the view and to watch the arousal and need building in Greg as he brought himself to completion. Greg was transfixed, desperately hard and rocking his hips to get some stimulation from the dildo.

Nikolai got up and went into the bathroom to shower, leaving Greg hanging there needy and cursing to himself that he couldn't get the dildo to move the right way to bring himself off. He knew it was strictly against the rules, they'd drilled that home in slave training, but he was so hard it was driving him mad. Nikolai returned after wiping himself clean and smiled to see the state Greg was in.

"So you enjoyed that, I take it?" Nikolai asked him, nodding knowingly when Greg shook his head no but his body betrayed that yes he had enjoyed it. "Very good. I want you in this state for me, to hunger for my attention, to desire me to show you pleasure," he explained, stepping up close to Greg and slowly caressing his ass, flank and thigh, eliciting a groan of tortured enjoyment out of him.

Nikolai chuckled and took him in hand stroking his length, slowly, not quite getting enough friction to allow him to climax. "Very nice. You are so responsive it's truly a pleasure to work with you and enjoy you. There's no reason you shouldn't gain some enjoyment from it as well." He reached behind him and began to lightly thrust against the dildo in a steady rhythm while he continued slowly stroking him until Greg was incoherently moaning and gasping, then stepped away and drawing a strangled moan of protest from him.

Nikolai released Greg's arms from their bindings, steadying him as he stepped down from the stool shakily. "Not yet, Greg. Perhaps tonight, if you behave well today at work."

Sebastien was called back to take Greg back to quarters to get cleaned up and readied for breakfast.

Greg's meal was plated and being put on the floor at Nikolai's feet just as Sebastien brought him into the dining room; scrambled eggs, bite size bits of sausages and fruit as well as a bowl of milk. "Leave the dishes on the floor to eat," Nikolai instructed, before returning to his own meal and a morning newspaper. Greg hated being fed off the floor but knelt without complaint and carefully finished his breakfast. When he was finished, Nikolai used a soft, warm cloth to wipe his face clean before they left to go to the hospital. He handed the leash to Ms. Walker who was putting out messages and files for Linda's attention that day.

"Please escort Greg to the diagnostics department, Ms. Walker. In fact, I would like for you to make that a part of your morning routine. Don't remove the leash until he is in the conference room and leave it on his office desk. Greg, you are to leash yourself at the end of the day and _be in my office_ at 5:30 pm. Don't forget to stop by the desk and pick up Dr. House's messages, Ms. Walker."

"Yes, Mr. Airsid," she replied taking the leash from him. "Come, Greg."

Greg followed her morosely, realizing now exactly how Nikolai intended to reinforce the message that he was a slave now that he was back to work; always being naked at the house, starting each day with a strong reminder and forcing him to put the role back on himself at the end of the day. Ms. Walker stopped at the desk to check for messages then led him into the elevator.

"Here," she said once the other passengers got off on the 3rd floor, slipping a sucker into his pocket. "I bought a bag of these for rewards. This one's a freebie," she added with a smile. He gave her a ghost smirk back and followed her all the way into the conference room, barely restraining himself from spitting out the leash, waiting for her to remove it. "Good day, Dr. House," she said, coiling the leash and putting it on the corner of his desk and leaving the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Greg was snappish and out of sorts all day as he tried to process and reconcile what Nikolai was doing, so his fellows gave him a wide berth, leaving him alone in his office to read the latest medical journal issued.

At noon, Wilson came in with a sandwich and a bottle of water for lunch but Greg refused it, too put out and unnerved by the last 24 hours to want anything to do with Wilson. He wouldn't even meet his eyes and barely spoke to him because he felt like Wilson wasn't going to want anything to do with him anymore except as a slave. Better to cut off contact on his own.

Half an hour later, Nikolai came into his office followed by Wilson. "You have not eaten the lunch that I sent up and Dr. Wilson so graciously delivered to you," Nikolai said with disapproval. "Lock the doors and close the blinds, Dr. Wilson." Greg set the journal aside warily, wondering what sort of punishment he was about to get.

"I've decided to take you on as an apprentice master, Dr. Wilson. You clearly enjoyed having Greg tagged but you haven't learned how to properly master a highly placed slave yet. Greg, stand up and strip off. Wilson, go and sit in his desk chair."

Greg got up slowly, stepping aside for Wilson to pass and met Nikolai's eyes finding only disapproval and resolute determination. He removed his clothes, keeping his eyes down at the floor, not wanting to see Wilson's reaction to the dildo and harness.

Wilson's lips parted in amazed fascination and arousal when he saw it, and he reached out to tug Greg closer by the harness, turning him to look at the dildo and lightly move it around. Greg didn't move or make a sound but couldn't stop his muscles from contracting at the motion nor the stirring of his cock from the stimulation.

"He wears this all day?" Wilson asked. "Just today or every day?"

"Every day, at least for now. It's a replica of my own cock, to remind him who his master is," Nikolai answered, sitting down on the edge of the desk.

"Now, your first lesson. This slave has refused the food and drink that you brought him on my orders. In order to keep at peak health and usefulness, this cannot be allowed unless there is a medical reason, but neither can he now be allowed to consume it in normal manner after a direct refusal. Greg, turn around and kneel up directly in front of Dr. Wilson. Take this," he continued, passing Wilson a small knife. "Cut the sandwich into bite size pieces. Put this towel over your lap. Now, one by one, put each piece of sandwich right in your lap. Greg will keep his hands behind his back and on your order, lean forward to pick up the bite of sandwich and eat it. Hold the water for him to drink whenever you wish to."

Greg ground his teeth together and flushed with embarrassment as Wilson now sported quite an erection, proving how excited he was by the interaction. Naturally, the bites of sandwich wound up directly on top of his erection which Greg couldn't avoid some touching with his chin and lips as he took each bite of sandwich on Wilson's command to do so. Wilson was entranced and fascinated as he watched Greg eat and drink this way and was beginning to lightly thrust up to meet Greg's lips by the time he'd finished the sandwich.

Nikolai smiled at Wilson, very pleased with the way he ordered Greg and the obvious fascination and desire to truly command him on his own.

"Now, the proper thing for a slave to do is to show gratitude for being allowed to have the sandwich, rather than a tasteless protein crumble, especially after refusing it initially. You have near limitless options for him to demonstrate this to you, but for time constraints and training purposes, let me suggest that having him give you a blowjob might be of particular benefit to you right now."

Wilson's face turned very red and flushed as he loosened his tie, his pants now unbearably tight. Truth was, he'd have to go masturbate in his private bathroom before his next patient arrived to avoid any embarrassment and it would be much more satisfying to have Greg do it.

"You're lucky I didn't know that protein crumble was an option before now. You can thank me for the sandwich by giving me a blowjob," Wilson said with a huge smile, unbuckling his belt and freeing his fully erect cock, putting the towel beneath it to protect his clothes from any stains.

"Hands behind your back, Greg," Nikolai reprimanded him when he shuffled forward to begin and made to touch Wilson. Greg closed his eyes and bit his cheek in frustration but clasped his hands behind his back again and leaned closer.

"Thank you for the sandwich, Dr. Wilson," House said before getting to work.

Without his hands, it was harder and required much more movement on his part, nudging Wilson's cock with his face so that he could begin by running his tongue up the base of his shaft to the tip, lightly sucking at it, before licking back down and mouthing his balls for a minute then returned to the tip and took it into his mouth. Wilson took hold of his head and thrust deeper as Greg intensified the pressure then matched the rhythm Wilson set as he took him deeper and deeper. It took only moments after being deep throated and Wilson came hard and long, finally relaxing back in Greg's chair gasping for breath but had yet to release his hold on Greg, although he lessened it enough for Greg to free his mouth and gulp in some much needed air. Still he was held in place right next to Wilson's now flaccid cock.

Nikolai handed Wilson a bottle of water and after guzzling half of it down, he fully released Greg and looked up at Nikolai with a grin. "Gods, he's fantastic at that," he exclaimed.

Nikolai smiled fully back at him. "Now that you're training with me, you can have that when you'd like. Just call and arrange it with me first, provided they are not working a case or he's working in the clinic."

Wilson tucked himself back into his pants and looked at Greg with a calculating gaze that made Greg shudder.

"I definitely want to take lessons with you," Wilson said, standing up, flushed with enjoyment.

"Excellent. Come to my office at the end of the day tomorrow, we'll work out a schedule," Nikolai said, shaking Wilson's hand. "Get dressed, Greg. I'll have him available for your lessons and as you progress, I'll loan him to you for increasingly long periods of time. We'll lay out all the parameters tonight as well. Once Wilson left, Nikolai stepped up directly in front of Greg, who sank to his knees in front of him.

"Why didn't you just eat the sandwich?" Nikolai asked. "Answer me," he prompted sharply when Greg remained silent.

"Sir… Master Nikolai, I was feeling that he wouldn't want to be with me now. I didn't feel hungry."

"Not as two normal people sharing a lunch you mean?" Nikolai asked for clarification, getting a sullen nod from Greg.

"You could have had some normal moments with Dr. Wilson, Greg, just as you did when you and I had lunch in the cafeteria. All you had to do was sit at your desk and eat lunch. You need to remember that everything you have right now, these clothes, that food, is given to you by me, no matter who is delivering it. Now go down and work your clinic hours," Nikolai ordered, holding the door open for Greg to go out ahead of him.

Greg returned his office three hours later in a black mood. The clinic had been as annoying and boring as ever and he hadn't dared to act out in any way so he'd been forced to grit his teeth and bear with it. He was worried about Wilson's interest in him now. Wilson had never had the spine to force him to do too much before, although he'd seen that Wilson definitely wanted to do much more. With Nikolai teaching him, Wilson could go as far as he wanted. He'd have to work very hard to stay on Wilson's good side at work. He definitely didn't want a repeat performance of this afternoon. Not in the hospital, not in the diagnostics office. The team returned and settled into their own research projects, ignoring his uncharacteristic silence.

At 5:15, Greg was glaring at his clock for betraying him. After this afternoon, the last thing he wanted to do was take himself downstairs holding the leash in his teeth. He cast a glance at his fellows, wondering if he dared ask Chase to take him down. It wasn't what Nikolai ordered though and he really didn't want his fellows involved in treating him like a slave in any way. Finally, at 5:35 he stood up, picked up the leash, shut off the lights and stepped into the hallway. His hands were trembling as he fought against his training to do as ordered and the resistance he'd managed to build back up in the years he'd been at the hospital. He just couldn't put the leash in his teeth. Carrying the coil in his hands, he headed downstairs.

He passed Linda and Ms. Walker just finishing up in the outer office. Linda looked up and frowned at him carrying the leash in his hands.

"Go right in. You're late and he's waiting for you," she told him.

Greg hunched his shoulders a bit and entered the office, dropping his eyes at Nikolai's look of reprimand and coming forward to kneel at his side.

Nikolai sat back and contemplated him in silence for a long moment. "What time did I tell you to be here?"

"At 5:30, Master Nikolai."

"And what time did you arrive?"

Greg glanced at the wall clock and grimaced. "At 5:50, sir."

"You also did not leash yourself as instructed. I will not allow you to circumvent my orders, Greg. You'll learn that eventually and save yourself some trouble."

Nikolai took the leash from his hands and held the tab out in front of him. Greg took it immediately in his mouth and stood when Nikolai ordered him to follow him to the outer office. Both women were still there, waiting to get confirmation from Nikolai to leave.

"Ms. Walker, would you please escort Greg back to the diagnostics office? Unleash him when you get there and leave it on his desk as you did this morning. Greg, you're to wait 20 minutes then leash yourself and return to me as ordered. We will continue this all night if we have to, for you to learn that you cannot exert your will over mine."

Ms. Walker turned and led Greg away and back to the elevators, which were full of staff changing shifts and visitors coming to see patients. Greg knelt at her side and kept his eyes down for the whole ride. When they got back to his office, all of his fellows were still there, watching as she coiled the leash on the corner of his desk and looked at him with a mix of concern and compassion.

"Twenty minutes, Greg," she reminded him. "Unless you really want to do this all night, I think you should just get it over with," she added, nodding to the other doctors and heading back down.

Greg stood frozen in his office, staring at the offending leash and keenly aware of his fellows watching and trying hard not to be caught watching. As the time ticked away, he found himself having difficulty slowing his breathing and realized he was close to a panic attack. This wasn't good; this wasn't good at all. Glancing at the clock, he saw there was only a minute left. Shakily, he reached out and took the leash in his hands, unrolling it enough to bring the tab up to his mouth. He licked his lips several times as his throat had gone completely dry, took one last deep breath and gripped the tab with his teeth. He closed his eyes and struggled to calm himself for a long moment but failed and spit the tab back out. He went to his desk chair and sat down, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his head down, just concentrating on breathing. When he had hold of himself again, he tried to psych himself into taking the leash tab into his teeth again, succeeding in holding onto it but he couldn't bring himself to get up, his whole body was trembling. The phone on his desk rang but he didn't answer it. A few minutes later Wilson came into House's office.

"Mr. Airsid wants you in his office," Wilson told him, frowning at the sight in front of him with concern. House didn't spit out the leash tab but he didn't move either. "He said that if you wouldn't come down on your own that I should bring you down." He waited, sure that would spark a reaction of some kind out of Greg but he didn't move at all. Wilson stepped forward and took the lead end of the leash out of House's hands. "Come on, I'll walk you down."

Greg got to his feet, shoulders hunched and head down, and followed Wilson to Nikolai's office and going directly to his knees at Nikolai's feet.

"Did you have to leash him, Dr. Wilson?" Nikolai asked, carefully observing Greg.

"No, he was holding the tab in his teeth but he was in some kind of panic attack, I think," Wilson answered, handing the leash over to Nikolai. "He didn't even react when I said I'd walk him here."

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Wilson," Nikolai said, shaking his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow evening." Once Wilson left the office, Nikolai went to his desk and pulled out a conventional leash, clipping it onto Greg's collar and taking the tabbed leash away.

"Come, Greg," he urged. "We'll do that exercise again tomorrow."

Arriving home, Nikolai stripped Greg himself and led him into the den. "Get one of those cushions and come sit at my feet, Greg," he said, taking the leash and setting it aside.

Once Greg was seated, Nikolai leaned forward in the chair and gripped his shoulders with both hands, beginning to knead the knotted and tensed muscles there. Greg let out a grunt of pain as he held a particularly hard, knotted muscle to release it.

"I knew that would be a very difficult challenge for you. I know you have no real trouble with the leash tab in your teeth, even in public. What was it that was so hard for you?"

Greg did not want to answer him, didn't want to give him any clues that would encourage him to keep trying this exercise. He clenched his jaw and shook his head.

"Answer me, Greg," Nikolai ordered firmly. "What was it?"

Greg shook his head, still refusing to respond.

Nikolai but the leash back on him and led him toward the back of the house. Greg figured this must be where punishment was dealt out and grimly nodded to himself when he was proved correct. In one corner of the room stood a rack with varying weight canes on it and a few thick leather straps hung on the wall as well. In the center of the room was a padded stand that a slave would bend over to be punished.

"Bend over the stand, Greg. Hands on floor," Nikolai ordered. Greg took position with some relief. This he could deal with. Caning he understood and could handle.

Nikolai shook his head at the relief and bit of triumph in Greg' body language. Well, he'd just have to make sure that this was different than what he was expecting and more challenging than Greg was used to.

Nikolai picked up a lightweight cane and swished it loudly in the air. It wouldn't break the skin but it would deliver a sharp, stinging blow. "Four strokes for disobeying my direct order to answer me. Count each one and say, 'I will answer when my master speaks to me.'"

Greg took a breath, feeling much more in control now that he was on familiar territory. "Yes, Master Nikolai," he acknowledged.

Nikolai stepped back enough to allow himself a full swing and began. Greg felt the line of fire across his ass and sucked in his breath in reaction before reciting the phrase Nikolai demanded.

"One, sir. I will answer when my master speaks to me."

Nikolai angled the cane to strike a new area each time. Four strokes of a cane this weight wasn't a challenge for Greg but it was only a prelude for what Nikolai had in mind. At the end of the six strokes, Nikolai left Greg where he was and came up to his side so that he could see his face and expressions

"What was so hard about leashing yourself?" Nikolai asked.

"Nothing, Master Nikolai," Greg responded, thinking to himself that he had answered when his Master spoke to him.

"Then you willfully disobeyed me?" Nikolai asked sternly.

"No! No, Master Nikolai," Greg objected.

"Then you lied to me just now," Nikolai stated. Greg remained silent, trying to find a way to spin this to his advantage, but nothing came quickly to mind.

"Yes, Master Nikolai," he admitted.

"Six strokes for lying to me," Nikolai told him dispassionately, stepping behind him again. "Count them out and say 'I will answer my Master honestly.'"

Greg gritted his teeth and grimaced. "Yes, Master Nikolai."

Nikolai laid on each stroke as quickly as Greg recited the response which left him hissing air through his teeth and rising up on the balls of his feet though he kept his hands firmly placed on the floor.

"What did you find so hard about leashing yourself?" Nikolai asked again, returning to Greg's side so that he could see his face again.

Greg darted his eyes around the floor that he could see in front of him. He was starting to get worried; this didn't seem like the punishment that he had thought it was going to be. Not to mention that every pause to ask questions would only make the next group of cane strokes hurt worse.

"I just couldn't bring myself to put the leash in my teeth unless you were handing it to me," Greg responded after a long moment.

Nikolai nodded. Now the truth was beginning to come out. "And so you presented yourself in my office, late and carrying your leash in your hands instead."

"Yes, Master Nikolai."

"And the second time? Dr. Wilson found you holding the leash tab in your teeth but you didn't come to my office until he led you there after I called him. What were you feeling then?"

"Master Nikolai, please…"

A swift, sharp cane stroke cut off his plea. "What was the first mantra, Greg?"

"I will answer when my master speaks to me," Greg responded, wincing and fidgeting through the burn.

"What were you feeling then?" Nikolai persisted.

"I was in a panic attack. Things felt distant and disconnected. I was anxious and shaking."

"What triggered the panic attack?"

"Putting the tab in my teeth," Greg answered quietly.

"The first time, when you didn't have it in your teeth; what did you think it would mean if you did as I ordered you to do?"

"That I was a good little slave," Greg shot back pithily. Nikolai chuckled but didn't reprimand him for his tone right now.

"You've been a slave for many years now, Greg. How many slaves have you seen leash themselves and present themselves to their masters at the appointed time?"

"None, Master Nikolai."

"How many slaves have you seen given authority over free people?"

"None, Master Nikolai."

"How many slaves have you seen given jobs that capitalized on their pre-slavery gifts and talents?"

"None, Master Nikolai."

"So would you say you are treated better or worse than your fellow slaves at the hospital?"

"Better, Master Nikolai," Greg admitted reluctantly.

"Then again; what was so hard about leashing yourself?"

Greg sighed and closed his eyes, wishing Nikolai wouldn't keep pushing the point but realizing that he wasn't going to get away without answering if full.

"It was like… by doing that, I was enslaving myself," he finally managed to say.

"Well done. Thank you for being honest," Nikolai said, putting the cane aside to be cleaned. "You may get up. Come."

Greg felt an ingrained rush of pleasure at his master's approval and closed his eyes against the feeling. He didn't want to feel it; as long as he didn't feel it, he could ignore that he was a slave. It wasn't doing any good though. He was so tense from the day that such a small amount of praise had his eyes burning with emotion.

Nikolai brought him over to the sofa and had him sit on a cushion he'd put down for him. "Remember the day you showed Ms. Walker to diagnostics? What was it I told you that you didn't do when you snapped at your fellows for catching flies?"

Greg gave a little smile at the phrase, casting back to think what it was. "That I didn't go through the experience you wanted me to have."

"Exactly. Leashing yourself in this manner and presenting to my office on time is another experience I want you have. To switch yourself from your role as Dr. House back to who you are, Greg the slave. I know that you think that slave is just a role you put on when forced. I'm going to teach you to accept the truth for yourself and then learn how to be successful."

Greg couldn't control the snort of derision. "Successful as a slave? You mean like all those mindless drones scrubbing the toilets twelve hours a day, seven days a week? Who never step out of line, never draw a caning, let alone a whipping?"

"No, not like those slaves," Nikolai answered, calling for Maddie to bring in dinner. "Those slaves are defeated by their slave training and handling. I don't want that for you. It would truly be a tragic loss of your gift. But unless you learn to accept that you are a slave and how to use your gift to the fullest within that reality, you are at grave risk of dooming yourself to becoming one of those mindless drones. One of two things will happen to you. First, you'll be sold. What do you think the chances are for your next owner wanting to use you for anything more than hard labor? Second, you'll be sent back to slave administration for retraining. They'll make certain that your oppositional personality is quelled forever before they sell you again."

Greg slumped in defeat and despair at that. He was terrified at the idea of going back to the slave center for retraining and knew that Nikolai was being brutally honest in his speculation of Greg's future if he was sold by the hospital.

Nikolai cut up Greg's food into bite sized pieces and put the plate on the floor for him to eat, pouring a bowl of water for him before sitting back to eat his own meal and contemplate his next steps with Greg.


	7. Chapter 7

Nikolai sat by the fire long after he sent Greg to bed that evening. Overall, he was well pleased with Greg's progress. Finding a high functioning slave was rare; finding one granted limited authority over free persons was nearly unheard of. There were some people that Nikolai knew who would pay very well for such a slave, for the services of such a slave. He wouldn't be chairman here at Princeton for long; a year, perhaps two. He'd agreed to train Wilson to handle Greg but he wasn't convinced that Wilson would be able to do that. As much as Greg seemed to like Wilson, he seemed equally inclined to rebel against him. Mishandled, as he feared Wilson might, the time investment he was putting in with Greg would be worthless and the reputation he'd built up as a trainer of slaves and handlers would be seriously damaged. Also in question was why Wilson was so interested in House; he never showed any interest in any of the other slaves. He wasn't about to let Wilson do that to him over his obsession with Greg. Well, he would honor what he had offered; he would train Wilson and allow him limited access to Greg. Most of his training would be done on other slaves, either from the hospital or others that Nikolai had access to. Sebastien could do well for Wilson to learn on. Long years in charge of the house and other slaves in training had given him the same strong, independent thinking that Greg had. Yes, Sebastien would do well for the task.

Now how to keep Greg moving in the direction he wanted, he thought, with Wilson planned for and out of the way. It was time Greg became more a part of the household here. Even for a slave, he had largely been treated as a guest. That would have to change. Not to mention that he needed to see to Sebastien and Maddie as well. That was a mistake new slave owners and handlers often made when given well-trained slaves; they thought they could just give them orders and ignore them completely until they wanted to use them for pleasure. Foolishness. Nodding with satisfaction at that change, he reached for his phone.

"Hello, Tobias," he said when the call was answered.

"Nikolai, good evening to you," Tobias responded happily. "You don't normally call this late, I hope everything is well?"

"Yes, everything is well. A few adjustments to be made nothing more. I'm ready to expand Greg's training and I'd like to loan him to a few Brotherhood meetings. I'm also going to take on a doctor at the hospital for apprentice level training. I don't want him to train on Greg exclusively and I especially don't want Greg's training to drop off while I am working with Dr. Wilson," Nikolai explained.

"Of course, there's plenty of opportunity for him to be put to use but in what capacity depends on his training level," Tobias agreed. "The last meeting he was little more than a waiter and décor. Is he still at that level?"

"At the moment, yes, but I'm going to step up his training now that the basics have been gone through and reinforced. How soon is the next meeting?"

"Saturday night."

"Five days," Nikolai sighed.

"He's still useful as a waiter," Tobias replied with a chuckle. "Although that limp of his limits him more to pouring drinks than carrying serving trays. He could be put on display; that's in keeping with his current training level but would increase the intensity. I'm hosting a small dinner at my home on Wednesday evening. Why don't you come and bring him along? You can introduce him to being displayed before the meeting."

"Yes, alright, that will work well. Thank you, Tobias."

"You're quite welcome. And I mean that, Nikolai. You've skipped too many invites and meetings to strengthen your position on the hospital board. Don't be such a stranger that you think you have to beg a favor from your fellow brother."

"Point taken, Tobias. I'll see you on Wednesday then."

"Six o'clock. Don't be late and don't plan on leaving before ten," Tobias chided him. "It's very rude to leave as early as you did the last dinner you attended."

"I promise to stay for the entire evening, Tobias," Nikolai swore with a chuckle and wished him good night.

Nikolai stepped down into the back hallway and called for Sebastien. "Beginning tomorrow, Greg is going to be assigned duties here in the household. I want you to keep me informed on the quality of his work. I'll have a list of his tasks ready for you in the morning when I inform him. Also, I am going to be using you to teach a new apprentice master. I will pick you up and bring you to the hospital when I need you."

"I'll be ready when you call, Master Nikolai," Sebastien responded.

"I had no doubt in my mind, Sebastien," Nikolai answered with a smile. "Come."

Nikolai took Sebastien into his room and spent a couple of hours with him, finally fucking him to exhaustion and letting him sleep in the master bedroom on a mattress alongside Nikolai's bed covered with a thick down comforter.

Nikolai had set his alarm and woke early, waking Sebastien and then went down to the back of the house to wake Greg. He opened his door and flipped on the light.

"Wake up, Greg," he called out loudly, startling Greg who sat up blinking rapidly and slid to the floor to his knees before he was even fully awake.

"I'm giving you some chores to do, starting this morning," Nikolai informed him, leaving him kneeling on the floor for the moment. "Each morning, you'll be up at six and complete a cleaning task which Sebastien will assign you the evening before. You're also assigned to keep the living room, dining room, and the first floor bath cleaned and ready for guests at any moment. You're responsible for keeping this room and bathroom cleaned and each evening you will wash the kitchen, bath and slave laundry. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg answered, relieved that Nikolai's appearance in his quarters was nothing more serious than being assigned cleaning tasks.

"You'll have breakfast in the kitchen with Maddie and Sebastien after your chores are complete then shower and dress for work." Nikolai pulled the dreaded tab leash from behind his back and laid it on the foot of the bed. "Once you're ready, leash yourself and report to me in the dining room at 8:30."

Nikolai handed a list to Sebastien who had appeared in the hallway as he finished giving Greg his orders then disappeared back up to the master suite.

Greg got to his feet and looked up at Sebastien with resignation. "What do you want me to do?"

"The clean laundry needs to be distributed first. Fresh towels and linens to the master suite, then the kitchen before the rest of the clothes and linens. Then pull the bedding from your bed and mine to go into the wash this evening. I'm sure Maddie has already pulled hers this week. I'll explain the household routine over breakfast. Once you have the laundry taken care of, thoroughly clean your room and bath and come to the kitchen for breakfast."  
"Right. Can I use the bathroom first?"

"Yes, of course," Sebastien answered with a smile and headed off to his own work.

Greg discovered that Sebastien's morning work was actually to wait on Nikolai and help him get ready for work when he delivered the fresh linens to the master suite. Sebastien handed him a laundry bag of soiled towels in exchange and he made his way back down to dropping off the laundry and heading to into the kitchen doorway, to drop off the kitchen towels and ask Maddie where the cleaning supplies were.

"Good morning, Greg," she said with smile. "All the cleaning supplies are here in the storage closet," she said, opening up a side room off the kitchen with a big cabinet, racks of mops and brooms, and a pair of utility sinks. There was also a mop station, with a hose to fill the bucket and a base with a drain for easy dumping when finished.

"Thanks," he said, picking out what he needed to clean his room and bathroom.

"We eat breakfast at 7:30," she reminded him as he trudged back to his room with the cleaning supplies.

He took care to do a thorough job on his room and bathroom, washing and polishing everything to gleaming. Just before breakfast, he returned the cleaning supplies and headed down to the kitchen. Maddie smiled at him and gestured toward a small table to one side of the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she asked, coming over with the carafe in hand.

"Yes, thanks," Greg answered, sniffing the aroma deeply before taking an appreciative sip while she dished out food onto three plates already laid on the table. Greg realized with a start that this was the first time he'd eaten at a table in Nikolai's house. It felt good but odd.

Sebastien joined them a couple of minutes later. "Good work on your room, Greg," he said as he began to eat.

Greg nodded and continued to eat, nervously eyeing the clock. He was sweaty and would need a good shower plus he didn't want to be late. The other two had an easy conversation with each other, including him a time or two, enough to make it clear that they weren't excluding him but not making a scene out it either. As soon as he finished eating he washed his dishes and put them in the rack then headed to his room to prepare for work. Sebastien came in and saw to the harness after he showered and left again. With five minutes to spare, Greg was standing in his room, dressed for work, staring at the leash in his hands. He still hated the idea of doing it but he wasn't in a panic attack over it. It was just an annoyance here. Must be practice, he thought as he reluctantly put the tab in his teeth and headed for the dining room. He knew Nikolai wasn't going to give up on the idea so soon.

Nikolai looked up and smiled as Greg knelt at his side. He reached out and clasped Greg's shoulder with a gentle squeeze. "Well done, Greg. Give me a moment and we'll be on our way."

As was becoming routine now, Greg was passed off to Ms. Walker to deliver to diagnostics and he was surprised to hear Nikolai inform her to collect Greg at 5:15 instead of a repeat performance of the leashing himself fiasco. The whole team was gathered in the conference room with stacks of folders all around them which gave him some hope that there would be a case to work on today as he headed into to join them and get a cup of coffee.

"Do we have candidates for a case?" he asked as he joined them at the table.

"Nothing so exciting," Chase answered. "Cuddy's on our case to get our billing done."

House eyed the number of folders and frowned. "Since when did we handle this many cases?"

"It's also all our clinic billings," Cameron said. "That stack is yours."

"Let me know when they're ready to sign," he said, getting up to go back to his office.

"We don't know what you did on your cases," she protested.

"Guess! They're just clinic cases, you should know what to do with them," he snapped. Greg sat down at his desk to read a medical journal and might have gotten away with it had Cuddy not come up to check on the team's progress.

"Greg!" she snapped, pushing open his office door. "You're not going to foist your files off onto your team. If you'd filled them out as you worked, all you'd have to have done is sign them. Now get in there and do your own back work."

Greg reluctantly closed the journal and set it aside, reaching for his cane. "Yes, Ma'am," he answered, grabbing his empty coffee mug and going back into the conference room to take a seat at the table. He pulled his stack of files in front of him and pulled a pen out of the pencil cup in the center of the table.

"No one is to do any of his paperwork, do you understand?" Cuddy demanded of the others. "Mr. Airsid has cut his daily clinic hours to just three per day; he has plenty of time to finish them himself. And if he doesn't sit here and finish them, you're to let Mr. Airsid know. Is that clear?"

All three of them agreed and bent back over their own files as Cuddy left the office. No one spoke until they were sure she wasn't coming back.

"She's in quite a mood this morning," Chase commented.

"I'm not surprised. I heard that some of the funding for the new expansion on the pediatric ICU fell through," Cameron responded.

"That's a bummer. More coffee anyone? House? More coffee?" Chase asked, getting to his feet with his own mug in hand. Everyone nodded, including Greg and Chase decided to bring the pot around instead, filling everyone's mug and then returning with the tray of fixings. Quiet settled over the room again as they all got back to their files.

An hour or so later, the phone rang and Foreman picked it up when Greg ignored it.

"Yes, I think we'll be done shortly after lunch," Foreman was saying, looking around at the others for confirmation and receiving it. "Yes, he is. Okay. House? It's Mr. Airsid," Foreman said, pushing the phone down to him.

Greg picked up the phone receiver and took a deep breath, glaring at the fellows and daring them to comment as he answered. "Yes, Master Nikolai?"

"I'm going out for a lunch meeting today. I'm going to leave you in the diagnostics department while I'm gone. Ms. Walker will bring your lunch up to you and your fellows. I want you to finish those files and report to clinic duty on time. Any problems or possible cases in the wind?"

"No, nothing but boring paperwork to do up here. And Dr. Cuddy losing her mind."

"Play nice, she's stressed out today. I'll see you in my office at 5:30."

"Right."

Nikolai hung up and Greg did as well.

"Big boss is buying lunch today," he said as he returned to his files.

"Sweet," Chase said with a grin.

Lunch turned out to be a party size pizza and a bowl of antipasto, foods that Greg hadn't had since he'd been made a slave and he ate three big pieces. He finished the last of his files off and with a plea to his fellows to find them a case, he headed down to put in his clinic hours.

Unfortunately, no new case presented itself to Diagnostics. The fellows had gone to lend a hand in the ER or do their clinic hours and were gone when Greg returned from the clinic. He sat down to continue reading the journal he'd started that morning, looking up startled when Ms. Walker entered the room.

"Sorry for making you jump," she said with a chuckle. "Time to go," she added, holding up the leash. Greg nodded, marking his page and putting the journal away, then came to her and took the leash without a problem. She led him down and directly into Nikolai's office passing the leash over wordlessly. Wilson was there looking all flushed with excitement for his first apprenticeship lesson. Goodie, Greg thought sourly as he knelt at Nikolai's feet. He was surprised when he realized that Sebastien was there too and wondered what was going on.

Nikolai stroked Greg's arm and removed the leash. "Serve the tea and cakes, Greg," he ordered, going over to take a seat across from Wilson. Greg glanced up at Sebastien, who gestured to the side cabinet where the tray was laid and waiting.

Greg carefully picked up the tray and carried it back to the coffee table to set down. He poured out the tea into their cups, fixed them as they wanted and removed the lid from the plate of cakes then stood back.

"Sebastien, you and Greg can wait in the outer office," Nikolai ordered and waited until the door closed.

"Now, Dr. Wilson, tell me about your interest in learning to handle slaves."

"Well, I'm interested in learning mainly so that I can have Greg around again," Wilson answered honestly. "I enjoyed having him tagged and I'm hoping to have the chance to tag him again in the future if you can teach me how to control him properly."

"So your interest is merely in how to handle this one specific slave," Nikolai said to clarify.

"Yes, exactly."

"What gain do you get, or perhaps I should say expect to get, by having him tagged?"

"Well, to have him all to myself, any time I want him, outside of his work for the hospital of course," Wilson answered.

"To do what?" Nikolai persisted.

"I'll take care of him, make sure he eats properly, give him his meds, make sure he looks presentable and hopefully, you'll be able to teach me how to keep him out of trouble," he added with a grimace that said he recognized now that he hadn't achieved that before.

"Do you intend to have him service you sexually? Do you intend to use him sexually?"

"Yes," he answered, blushing awkwardly. "That too."

"Are you attracted to men in general or just to him?"

"Um, well, just to him. Otherwise, I'm attracted to women."

"What does Greg get out of this arrangement?"

"He gets cared for," Wilson said uncertainly. "I make sure he had good food, good clean clothes, enough time to sleep. Sometimes just some regular companionship."

Nikolai tipped his head back to look at the ceiling, wondering if Wilson was being deliberately obtuse.

"Why do you think that Dr. Cuddy went to the trouble to secure permission for Greg to practice medicine?" he asked Wilson, deciding to come at this from a different direction.

"At first I wasn't sure, but he's brilliant at diagnosing rare diseases and conditions," Wilson answered. "Cuddy built this whole diagnostics department around him, made special rules and conditions that only applied to him, none of the other slaves. The cases that he's solved, the papers that have been published, have brought a lot of renown and donations to the hospital. But, of course, as Chairman of the Board, you know all that."

"In your opinion, what makes him brilliant at diagnostics?"

"I… I think he's a genius. Literally, I mean, some type of savant," Wilson said. "He sees patterns and makes connections that no one else does. And once he sets his mind on a task, he'll risk anything to accomplish it, even a severe judicial whipping."

"So his records show," Nikolai agreed. "Such a mind needs to be occupied, Dr. Wilson. Occasional normal companionship is not enough to do that. The question I have is whether you are quick enough of mind to stay at least one step ahead of Greg. At this time, I think the answer to my question is no."


	8. Chapter 8

Greg and Sebastien were both kneeling on the floor in the outer office, so that anyone who came by found both of them tagged by Nikolai in a proper slave stance.

"What did Master Nikolai bring you here for?" Greg asked quietly, after making certain that no one else was around.

"So that Dr. Wilson could begin his training," Sebastien answered.

"I thought Wilson's whole goal was to have me," Greg said, puzzling over Nikolai's decision.

"I believe that's correct but Master Nikolai doesn't want to start an apprentice with you, since you are in retraining with him," Sebastien responded.

"So, you're what? Better trained? Better behaved?" Greg asked, annoyed.

"I am less likely to have my training affected by any mistakes that a new apprentice might make," Sebastien responded. "And this lets Master Nikolai judge what exactly Dr. Wilson wants, both from you and from the training he's been offered."

Greg said nothing but was trying to see this whole event from Nikolai's point of view. It did make sense that Nikolai wouldn't want an amateur to jeopardize the training he was putting him through and Sebastien was clearly well-trusted by Nikolai, especially since he'd been tagged by Wilson before. Greg could admit, to himself anyway, that Wilson had been a spectacular failure compared to Nikolai and Greg had taken great advantage of that fact.

"How long have you been owned by Master Nikolai?" he asked Sebastien, curious to see if the man would answer some questions.

"He's been my owner for ten years now," Sebastien replied. "I'd been a slave for five years before he purchased me."

"You like being with him?"

"I do," Sebastien nodded.

"Happy being a butler then?" Sebastien chuckled.

"I guess I do serve the role of a butler for him. It wasn't what I imagined I'd be when I was a boy. I wanted to be a fireman. Or a hockey player," he said with a smile. "It must seem odd to you, but yes, I am happy being his butler. It's more than just taking cleaning his house and waiting on him. The longer he keeps you tagged, the more you'll understand."

"What do you mean, it's more than cleaning and waiting on him?" Greg wanted to know.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself, Greg," Sebastien answered. "It's coming, if you'll keep open to the answer."

Greg rolled his eyes but said nothing more. It really was a risk to have a conversation anyway, especially placed outside of their master's supervision.

* * *

Wilson stared at Nikolai, his face hardening as he realized the meaning of his words. "So you're reneging on our agreement? Because you don't think I'm smart enough to keep Greg occupied?"

"I haven't said that I was reneging on our agreement," Nikolai responded in an icy tone of voice. "I am willing to teach you what I know about handling slaves but I will not be teaching you on Greg. I will not have his retraining disrupted. If you are not agreeable to this, then I bid you goodnight, Dr. Wilson. It's your decision."

Wilson was angry; he had thought that Nikolai would show him exactly what to do with Greg and he would step in and slowly take over Nikolai's tagging rights until he had Greg back again, this time with a better idea of what to do to keep him in line. The idea that he couldn't keep a step ahead of Greg was ridiculous. Yes, the man was a genius in medicine, granted, but that didn't mean Wilson couldn't outwit him otherwise. He was a free man and Greg was a slave. Ultimately, he had to do what Wilson told him to do. Wilson wanted to know what Nikolai was doing that had Greg responding so quickly. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He still wanted that information and Nikolai was the one who had it. He'd just have to go along with the man's training program for now. He put on his very best contrite face and turned on the charm.

"I'm sorry," Wilson said. "You're right; if anything disrupts the training you're giving him, which is clearly working, he'll be sold and this will all be for naught. I would like to learn from you still."

Nikolai recognized Wilson's new tactic but didn't openly acknowledge it. Since the man agreed to the apprenticeship, he would wait to observe and gather more information. "I'm glad you agree that would be best for Greg. Let me go over what I expect from you and will offer in return. I expect that you will put in two evenings per week and a half day twice a month. You'll work with a slave of my choice. Do well and you will earn time with Greg. If this part of the arrangement works out, I may be in a position to offer you more. Is this agreeable to you?"

"Yes, it is," Wilson nodded, although he had hoped for more. Still, this would at least get his foot in the door and learning from Nikolai.

"Very well." Nikolai picked up two leashes, tossing one to Wilson. "Follow me." He led Wilson to the outer office and leashed up Greg, securing him to a ring on the wall. "You'll stay out here, Greg. Dr. Wilson, leash up Sebastien and bring him into the office."

Wilson clipped the leash on Sebastien's collar and led him back into the office, stopping in the center of the room where Nikolai indicated.

"Sebastien belongs to me personally, Dr. Wilson," Nikolai said. "I've brought him here tonight specifically to begin your training. I'd like to see what you know about handling slaves first of all. When walking a slave on the leash, what behavior should the slave exhibit?"

"He should follow along without me needing to pull on the leash," Wilson responded.

"Correct. How much slack should you allow? How far from you should the slave be? To the right or to the left? What should his stance be? What about when you stop? When you begin to move again?" Nikolai peppered him with questions as he leaned against his desk and poured himself a brandy.

"Oh, um… he should have enough slack to walk a pace behind and slightly to the right," Wilson answered slowly, thinking through what he'd seen of other slaves. "His stance? Eyes down. When I stop he should stop at once, and move again when I do."

"Partially correct. When you stop, the slave should immediately kneel without orders otherwise. He should have his legs spread and his hands held behind him at the small of his back and his eyes cast down. A slave is at all times to keep their body displayed for their owner or handler. When you move again, he will rise to his feet and resume following at a pace behind. Walk around the office with Sebastien and practice turning, stopping, and starting again."

Wilson begins to move around the office, leading Sebastien who followed in perfect form although Wilson several times turned too sharply or started up again so quickly that Sebastien was tugged sharply, forced to backpedal out of Wilson's way and stumbling to gain his feet when Wilson started moving again.

"Dr. Wilson, although the slave must master following you in perfect form, you are still responsible for remembering that you have a human at the end of that leash. By turning too sharply, you are choking him with the leash and nearly stepping on him. You started off too quickly," Nikolai corrected him.

"I thought the slave is supposed to conform to the master, not the other way around," Wilson objected.

"Yes, but your actions allow them to perform at their best. If you were to start moving that quickly with Greg on the end of the leash, you would likely pull him onto his face," Nikolai returned, coming over and taking Sebastien's leash. "Watch for the difference in pace," he instructed.

Nikolai moved around the office with Sebastien, mimicking Wilson's path and movements. Wilson paid attention and could see the minute shifts and miniscule pauses that Nikolai made which gave Sebastien just enough clue or warning to move effortlessly and gracefully with his master. Wilson nodded as he watched, understanding what Nikolai was doing. Both master and slave appeared to act as one and Nikolai's signals were invisible if you weren't directly looking for them.

"I see what you mean," Wilson said when Nikolai handed the leash back to him.

"Try again," Nikolai encouraged, resuming his place leaning against the desk. This time, Wilson made allowances and tried to signal his intentions to Sebastien, who was able to read them easily.

"Very good," Nikolai said with a smile. "Work on getting your signals as subtle as possible and soon they will be unnoticeable to anyone but the slave behind you. Have you ever engaged in bondage?"

"I've experimented here and there with it," Wilson answered, sweeping his eyes over Sebastien as he knelt as his feet.

"Most important thing to assure with slave bondage is what?"

"Um… I'm not sure," Wilson said, frowning as he tried to work it out.

"Look at me, not him," Nikolai ordered sharply. Wilson jerked around to meet Nikolai's eyes. "You are about to put physical restraints on him of various kinds. What is the most important thing to assure when you do so?"

"I, uh… circulation?" Wilson stuttered.

"That's second," Nikolai answered, nodding now that he had Wilson thinking on the right track. "First and most important is airway, just as it is in emergency medicine. We often used hoods and gags; a clear airway is paramount. Circulation is second consideration, hand in hand with assuring that discomfort does not go on to injury. It won't do to dislocate a joint or tear a ligament."

"No, of course, absolutely," Wilson agreed. "But where does punishment fall into that? Greg's certainly been injured when whipped."

"True. I disagree with the efficacy of whippings when injuries are sustained. Punishment should cause discomfort and even pain. It's supposed to be a deterrent to misbehavior, after all. Greg's case should demonstrate that causing injury does nothing to correct a slave."

"Well, Greg's an exceptional case," Wilson shrugged with a smile. "I think that the other hospital slaves would correct their behavior after a judicial whipping."

"Likely they would avoid the behavior that got them whipped," Nikolai agreed. "Did it teach them to behave properly? I believe the answer to that question is no."

"Isn't avoiding the behavior that got them whipped the same thing as behaving properly?" Wilson asked, confused.

"No, Dr. Wilson, it is not the same thing at all. What they learned is to avoid the whipping, not what to do to behave properly. Let me give you an example. Today, Greg was to fill out paperwork with his team. He chose to read a medical journal instead. Dr. Cuddy caught him and ordered him to do his paperwork or she would tell me and Greg reluctantly complied. He avoided the punishment but he did not behave properly; if he had, he would have done the paperwork from the outset and never needed to be threatened with punishment."

"But how would you teach him to do that without punishment?" Wilson asked curiously.

"That is something for you to think about for our next session," Nikolai answered. "Thursday evening?"

"Yes, Thursday's good," Wilson said.

"Have a good night then," Nikolai said, leaving Sebastien kneeling where he was and walking Wilson out. He then got his coat and briefcase, picking up Sebastien and locking his office up. "Come, Greg, it's time to go home."

When they got home, Sebastien and Greg both stripped and went to see to their evening chores. Nikolai rewarded them for good behavior with Wilson and had dinner served in the study, the three slaves at one table and Nikolai at his own.

"Sebastien, what do you think of Dr. Wilson?" Nikolai asked curious to hear his opinion.

"He has an agenda," Sebastien answered. Greg looked up while eating, surprised that Nikolai would ask for his opinion. "He caught on to what you were showing him about the leash quickly enough. It felt like sometimes he was paying close attention and other times he was humoring you."

"He definitely has his own agenda," Nikolai agreed. "For the moment, he wants the basic training information I have to offer him."

"What happens when that's no longer the case?" Greg asked.

"His apprenticeship is at an end in that case," Nikolai responded. "An apprentice must follow the master's rules and lessons if he wishes to continue on. Tomorrow evening, I am taking Greg with me to dinner at Tobias' house. We'll be leaving directly from the hospital and I've been chided to spend the whole evening so we'll likely be home quite late. There's no need to wait up; Greg can serve me when we get home."

"Should we set anything up for your use when you get home?" Sebastien asked.

"Yes, full linens for showers for both of us, brandy. Set up the pallet for Greg to sleep on in my room. That should do, Tobias will see us well fed for the night."

When the evening was over, Maddie was called to Nikolai for the night. Greg and Sebastien returned to their quarters. "Sebastien? Who is Tobias?" Greg asked.

"He's a member of a brotherhood Master Nikolai belongs to, a senior member, and a mentor of a sort. You should pay attention while you are there. Master Tobias is a slave trainer as well and you'll be exposed to training that I doubt you've had so far," Sebastien answered.

"What kind of a brotherhood?"

"That I can't tell you. Master Nikolai will fill you in on it, if he wants you to know beforehand. Otherwise, he'll answer more of your questions once you get home. Try not to get worked up about it. Good night, Greg."

Greg did his best not to get too worked up about it the next day at work, instead trying to analyze Wilson's motives and what kind of agenda he could have that would differ from Nikolai's. He also was under orders to go to the groomer, getting a fresh haircut and shave, and his body completely shaved as well. At five o'clock, Nikolai picked Greg up and brought him back to his office.

"Take a quick shower, Greg. I have some different clothes I want you to put on and then we'll head over to Tobias' home," Nikolai said. While Greg was in the shower, Nikolai shaved and changed clothes.

When Greg was finished, he came out to find some very revealing clothing waiting for him. A pair of form fitting soft trousers with a mesh crotch and a wrap style tank that crossed in the front in a deep vee, leaving his arms and much of his chest exposed. Nikolai put a pair of leather cuffs on his wrists to finish the look off.

Nikolai was also wearing tight and revealing clothing, although his trousers were solid. Greg raised his eyebrows as he looked them both over. "Are you going to dinner or a strip show?"

"Who says both can't be true?" Nikolai smirked. "You look good. Tonight is a dinner for a small group but there will be several slaves there. Sensuality, eroticism, and sex will all be part of the evening's entertainment, hence the clothing. I won't be allowing anyone to use you for sex tonight, unless I choose to but I do plan on expanding your training tonight and Tobias is going to facilitate that. Come," he said, clipping on a regular leash and leading him to the car.

Tobias' house turned out to be a large estate in the countryside. Valets were waiting for the guests, opening the car doors for them and then parking their cars. Nikolai led Greg into drawing room and straight over to Tobias.

"Nikolai, so glad you could make it tonight," Tobias said with a smile. "Brandy?"

"Thank you, I'm glad to be able to make it," Nikolai answered. "It has been far too long. This is Greg," he said, accepting the brandy snifter.

"Stand up, Greg, let me get a good look at you," Tobias ordered. Greg stood up and fell into a proper pose, keeping his hands from blocking his body from view. "I think we'll have him serve drinks before dinner is served. He'll be fed and then put on display for the rest of the evening. Have you ever been displayed before, Greg?"

"No, sir," Greg answered.

"Displaying a slave is done for the erotic enjoyment of the guests," Tobias explained. "Nikolai, how much touch is allowed for him?"

"No oral or penetration but fondling and manual stimulation is acceptable tonight," Nikolai answered.

"Excellent, that fits in with what I had in mind. Mikael," Tobias called, summoning a nearby slave. "Set Greg to work serving drinks until the displays are fed and set up."

"Yes, Master Tobias. Come, Greg," Mikael said as Nikolai removed the leash and coiled it on his belt.

"Follow their directions, Greg. I will be watching you and I will come to help put you on display," Nikolai assured him before sending him off with Mikael. Greg was clearly very nervous, as he met and held Nikolai's eyes anxiously. Nikolai stroked down his arm and gently nudged him toward Mikael with a nod. Greg nodded back and stepped away, following Mikael closely.

Mikael led him over to a sidebar in the large drawing room, turning to watch him walk the last couple of steps. "I'll have you pour refills of wine for the guests tonight. That way you won't have to balance a tray of glasses. You can alternate that with a pitcher of ice water. They'll socialize and drink for about an hour before dinner is served," he explained, handing Greg a carafe of red wine.

"Any specific instructions?" Greg asked stiffly, very nervous to be in such a large group setting. "Do I offer or wait until they signal me?"

"You should offer them a refill," Mikael replied. "No extraneous talking of course, but approach and say 'sir/madam, would you like another?' The guests may touch you, fondle you even, and you should stand still and let them. Move as they ask you. They aren't allowed to keep you from your tasks for more than a minute or two. The trainer, Aristide, will keep an eye out to be sure that the guests don't push the master's house rules. That's Aristide over there," Mikael said, pointing him out to Greg. Aristide looked over and met their eyes, as if he felt them looking at him, and nodded to both.

"Come on," Mikael urged him, picking up a tray of bite sized appetizers that had just been brought out. "Let's get started then."

Greg took a fortifying breath and followed Mikael into the room, approaching guests and offering refills. He felt eyes on him as he moved around the room which was completely unnerving. He was used to slaves being invisible like they were in the hospital. Clearly this group of people didn't feel that way. They watched the slaves as they did their work and not suspiciously or with disdain like most did when they noticed slaves around them. No, this group was watching them with an appreciative eye, particularly enjoying slaves that moved gracefully and sensually. Greg grimaced at that realization, feeling awkward and clunky with the limp he now had.

"Sir, would you like a refill?" he said quietly as he approached a man standing near the windows taking in the sunset.

"Yes, please," the man said, turning toward Greg and holding out his glass. "Stay," he ordered when Greg went to quickly move on. "To whom do you belong?"

"Sir, this slave is owned by Princeton Plainsborough Teaching Hospital," Greg answered.

"What is your name?"

"Greg, sir."

"Nikolai brought you here tonight?" the man asked rhetorically. Greg remained quiet and stood still as the man looked him over appraisingly but he startled when the man stepped closer and ran his hands over his body, even cupping his groin. "Not the body of a cleaning slave. What is your job at the hospital?"

"Sir, my job is a physician, sir," Greg answered nervously, expecting to be chastised for lying since no one believed a slave would serve in that capacity. Surely this group would be even less likely to believe that.

"Intriguing," the man comment. "I'll have to find out more about you, Greg. Return to your work."

The rest of the cocktail hour was much the same for Greg, although no one questioned him about his work again. He was constantly ogled and fondled as he moved through the room, leaving him a bit nervous and more than a bit aroused, which only brought more fondling. He gritted his teeth and bore it with as little reaction as possible since he could see the same thing happening to all the other slaves. He did find out by eavesdropping on conversations that the man who had questioned him was also a doctor, whose name was Jackson Ellis. He also discovered that all of the invited guests were members of this 'brotherhood', even the women were full members. Points for gender equality, he supposed. There was even a moment when the trainer, Aristide, stepped in and extricated him from a man named Jonus, who kept him overlong from his work. Jonus let him go with a grin and promised to see him later in the evening as Greg hurried away from him.


	9. Chapter 9

After what seemed like forever to Greg, the guests were called to dinner and as they made their way to the dining room, Aristide gathered up the slaves who were to be on display and led them down to a large worktable with benches next to the kitchen.

"You have thirty minutes to eat and you may talk while you do so," Aristide announced, as kitchen workers passed a stack of plates and basket of rolled cutlery to the seated slaves. Soon platters of food were placed on the table, pitchers of ice water and pots of steaming tea and they were left alone to eat. Greg was seated between Mikael and a young woman named Raven.

"How did you do tonight, Greg?" Mikael asked as he took a couple of slices of roast chicken and passed the platter to Greg. "I saw you caught the eye of both Ellis and Jonus."

"Yeah," Greg agreed, passing the plate on after getting some chicken. He was surprised at the quality of food given to the slaves. It was far different from the nutritious but tasteless mush at the slave canteen in the hospital. "That was… was that normal? To be the center of attention like that? At the hospital, slaves are invisible."

"A lot of places treat slaves like that, but what you saw tonight was normal for a Brotherhood gathering," Mikael answered. "Ellis and Jonus are both trainers. It's good to be noticed by them, even if it is unnerving at the same time. They're really intense but extremely well-connected and respected, much like Nikolai is."

"Oh, are you a new slave of Nikolai's?" Raven asked

"No, I'm tagged by Nikolai. I belong to the hospital," Greg answered.

"That's a bummer," Raven said with a frown.

"I get to stay with him and his slaves, so it's not so bad."

"And you got to come here tonight," she added with a smile. "Maybe he'll bring you to more events."

"Maybe," Greg said non-committedly. "So what does this erotic display entail?"

"Oh you're going to be on display? Me too," Raven said, clearly thinking this was a good thing. "Slaves are displayed so that they are sensually posed and sexually arousing for the master and his guests. How you're displayed depends on your training level and whether your master wants to push it. You might be a living food tray, posed like a statue, or restrained in some way from soft to very hard bondage."

Greg swallowed hard and took a few gulps of ice water.

"Don't worry too much, Greg," Mikael said with a chuckle. "You've already caught the eye of a couple of trainers not to mention that Master Tobias will be interested to find out what Master Nikolai sees in you. If you catch their attention, and Nikolai allows it, they can pull you off display to be with them."

"I don't think that's any better," Greg responded. "I'd rather not have any attention at all."

Soon enough Aristide returned with Nikolai. The slaves were led into a small locker room and told to disrobe then the group went out into a large ballroom. Nikolai gestured for Greg to come with him, taking him over to a padded lounge stool. "I've brought a couple of small padded cushions to support your leg. Sit down and lay back."

Greg got onto the stool and stiffly lay back. Nikolai shifted him around, moving his arms and legs to put him into a position that made him feel like he was posing for Playgirl. He tucked a cushion under Greg's thigh so that his leg wouldn't be strained. Once Greg was positioned, Nikolai brought out rolled strips of silk, about six inches wide, and wrapped them around Greg's body and limbs strategically, enough to use the silk to hold him in the position but not so much as to block his body from view. Greg found himself unable to do much but to shift an inch or so, though his muscles weren't straining to hold the pose. Overall it was reasonably comfortable, he realized.

"I'll be close by and Aristide will be watching as well as a couple of slaves in case you have any problems," Nikolai explained. "But do your best to hold your anxiety in check. I know you can do this for the evening; I've had you restrained far more severely for longer." Nikolai stroked his chest and arms, then his legs, trailing up his inner thighs and finally taking him in hand and stroking him to erection. Greg was still wearing the dildo harness as well and soon enough Nikolai had him gasping and shifting with need just as the noise of laughter and chatter heralded the arrival of the guests.

"Very good, Greg. Concentrate on keeping aroused. I know that you've been trained to be as invisible as possible. Draw on that rebellious spirit of yours and fight that training for the evening. I want you to attract attention to yourself tonight. Arousal is how you can do that. I'll check on you later," Nikolai said, giving one last swirl of this thumb over the tip of his cock and moving off to join the other guests.

Greg definitely did not want Nikolai to leave his side but he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He hadn't been gagged this time; he wasn't certain whether that was a good thing or not. He realized someone was at his side and snapped his eyes to them before quickly casting them down as he remembered himself.

"Here you are," Jonus said with pleasure. "Too bad Nikolai has placed restrictions on you tonight, we could have had a great deal of fun," he added, running his hands all over Greg's body.

"Jonus, you're so predictable," a woman's voice said.

"Fresh meat, of course," another voice commented. The doctor, Ellis, Greg remembered, not at all pleased to have drawn so much attention so quickly.

"Is he for sale?" she asked, running her hands over Greg's chest before putting her hand under his chin to have him look at her.

"No, Ekaterina. Nikolai tagged him at the hospital."

"Too bad. He has such beautiful eyes. I'll come back and see you later," she said to Greg then turned to look at Ellis. "Would you like to join me, Ellis? I'm looking for a female servant and Gaius has a few slaves for sale."

"I'd love too. Have fun, Jonus," Ellis chuckled, offering his arm to Ekaterina and escorting her away.

Jonus stroked Greg until he thought he was going to explode but mercifully, he stopped just before he did. Jonus chuckled and gave him a smack on the ass. "I'll be back around."

Greg found himself the object of everyone's attention that evening. He barely had a moment when he wasn't being touched, prodded, and fondled. A few times, some naked slaves came up to him with water for him. Nikolai returned to his side finally, well over halfway through the night.

"You're doing very well, Greg," he said with clear approval. "Everyone is asking about you and wondering when you'll be back without restrictions."

"Oh, good," he muttered sarcastically.

"It is good," Nikolai agreed. "I know you haven't figured out why yet. That's all right. There's plenty of time for you to gather clues. How are you holding up?"

"I'm… about to explode," he admitted, embarrassed.

"If you do, that's all right. If you're able to hold to the end, I'll give you a reward," Nikolai said. He summoned one of the slaves over with a cool, damp cloth. "Wipe him down a bit, Garrett, and let him have a bit to eat. Jonus has been asking me to let him take you down to his seat. Don't worry," he chuckled when he saw the look of alarm in Greg's eyes. "I told him no. You're too new for one on one with Jonus yet. Ellis either for that matter."

Nikolai made sure Greg was set again before rejoining Tobias at their lounges. "He's holding up better than I thought he would."

"Surely he's been well used at the hospital," Tobias said. "I can't imagine the doctors passing up the chance to use him."

"Yes, he was. He can get overwhelmed and anxious at times. He acts out when that happens. He's nervous but not enough to act out. Unless Jonus decides to push things with him."

"Jonus pushes things with everyone, Nikolai, you know that very well. You can't dangle such an interesting slave in front of everyone and expect Jonus to ignore him. He doesn't have the self-control that Ellis does to wait for good things to come to him."

"Yes, I know. Seize the day, and all that," Nikolai laughed. "Aristide will remind him to keep to his manners in your home, I've no fear of that."

"So what are your plans for the future, Nikolai? Are you going to remain at the hospital longer than you had planned now that you found him?" Tobias asked pointedly.

"It's a possibility but my contract is only for two years," Nikolai answered, smiling as a serving slave presented them both a glass of wine. "If he does well with us, I'd like to look at purchasing him. The bad news is that if he does well, he'll be more valuable to the hospital and his price will go up."

"Ellis is already extremely interested in him," Tobias responded, sipping his wine. "If he proves able to hold their interest, the Brotherhood would seriously consider fronting the money to purchase him. But he has to be able to handle both Jonus and Ellis; with that anxiety you mentioned he has, you have some way to go before he can handle them."

"I know," Nikolai nodded. "I have his behavior stabilized, I'm working on getting a daily routine going with him. Once he's settled with that, I'll start on training him with their preferences in mind."

"Bring him here once a week," Tobias ordered. "Aristide can help train him while you and I do our best impression of Jonus and Ellis. Sadly, we will fall short but it should be enough to get him started."

"Alright. Then we can add them in one at a time. Ellis first, I think," Nikolai agreed.

"Excellent. Aristide," Tobias called out. "Bring Raven down for Nikolai. He could use the distraction and she could use the training in upper class fetish. She's been largely trained by Jonus, well-disciplined with stamina but not accustomed to refined manners. Ellis works with her some but he doesn't put enough emphasis on manners to suit me. I want to use her as a corporate spy, she needs better training."

Greg was relieved for the cool down and pep talk from Nikolai, feeling a bit more in control of himself. As much as Nikolai had said climaxing wouldn't matter, he didn't want to do it. For one thing it took even that from his control and he really didn't want to lose that to Jonus who he'd caught out of the corner of his eye making his way back to Greg.

"Well, Greg, you're the most interesting slave on display tonight," Jonus said as he stepped up alongside and openly leered at him. "Ellis and I are going to speak to Nikolai about renting you. Even if we have to come to his house to have you," he continued and began stroking him again.

Greg tensed up at the idea of being rented by the two men which didn't go unnoticed by Jonus. "You don't like that idea very much do you? That's alright. It's a common reaction of slaves that had owners who were not members of the Brotherhood. When Nikolai gets you trained up a little bit, we'll start working with you."

"Why?" Greg shot out, unable to stop himself from asking then immediately panicking. "This slave is sorry for speaking out of turn, sir."

"Greg, look at me," Jonus commanded sharply. Greg's eyes shot to Jonus' at once, showing how much he feared the man. "The answer to why is that we think you could have a much better use and value than the hospital has for you. We treat our slaves differently than most; you've surely noticed that in the time you've been with Nikolai. Correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"While we all have different preferences, Brotherhood members are held to certain standards of treatment and held fully accountable to each other. For instance, Nikolai set very restrictive rules for you tonight and no one, not even me, will cross them because the consequences are too high. Now think about what that would mean to you to have not just a master but an owner like that. Yes, exciting isn't it?" Jonus purred when Greg's desire for that kind of treatment responded with increased arousal with the hand job Jonus had been giving him the entire time. "You'd like to be thought of as more valuable than the hospital equipment, wouldn't you? Clothed, fed, and cared for properly? You'd like to earn rewards wouldn't you? What do you like Greg? Fine food? Movies? Music? Tell me, if you could have one thing what would you like to have?"

Greg was shifting as much as he could within the soft bonds, so aroused he was having trouble following the questions but he replayed the words in his mind since Jonus seemed to legitimately want him to answer.

"Ah… piano," he gasped, hips bucking upward as he felt himself getting close to exploding. "I want to play the piano again," he blurted out.

"Definitely something we can grant you," Jonus answered, quite surprised at Greg's answer but even more intrigued with him. He varied his strokes, keeping Greg gasping at the edge for a little longer then stroked him hard to a long, shuddering climax that left Greg boneless and panting for air when it was over.

Jonus signaled one of the servants to come over and clean Greg up while he got him a glass of juice and held it for Greg to sip from a straw. "I'll be sure to let Nikolai know how well you did tonight."

"Master Nikolai said I'd get a reward if I didn't come," Greg said tiredly.

"What kind of a reward would it have been without a big challenge?" Jonus asked with a grin. "Rest until he comes for you," he added, brushing his knuckles over Greg's cheek and heading off to talk to Nikolai.

"Jonus," Nikolai greeted with a nod. "Are you sufficiently intrigued with Greg?" he asked as he corrected Raven's posture as she poured a drink for Jonus. "Straight and graceful now, Raven. This task requires tantalizes rather than blatant display of your goods."

"I am more than sufficiently intrigued with him," Jonus said with a grin as he accepted the drink from Raven and ran his hands up her thighs to pinch her ass, chuckling as flinched while trying hard not to. "Ellis and I want to rent him when he's ready. It seems like he's been pretty well ruined between the slave center and the hospital."

"Yes, he's been mishandled since day one," Nikolai agreed. "But he isn't broken yet, thankfully, and by tagging him, I'm hoping to prevent that."

"He did really well tonight, although he did tell me that you promised him a reward if he didn't come. I think he deserves a reward anyway. He held out a hell of a long time, a lot longer than I expected him to since he's really responsive to touch."

"Well then, the reward can come from you. A positive ending no matter what would be good for him."

"Glad you agree. I want to bring him down now. He told me what he'd like more than anything and it's here to grant him."

"Okay, I'll come free him," Nikolai said, glancing around the room and wondering what Greg would desire here. There were books, the stereo system, a piano in the corner. Did Greg play? He'd never asked him.

"Greg, are still awake?" Nikolai asked as they approached. Greg's eyes were closed and he seemed pretty relaxed, but his eyes opened at once. Just resting then. Nikolai began to unwrap the bindings that held him in place and once he was free, he helped him to stand.

"You didn't get my reward tonight, but Jonus wants to give you a reward."

Greg looked at Jonus a bit suspiciously but followed when the man led him away. His eyes got wide when he led him directly to the piano on one side of the room.

"You held out a long time and you were open with me. So here's your reward. Thirty minutes to play the piano, whatever you want. Use the damper pedal if you want, but don't be surprised if people stop to listen even so," Jonus said, nudging him toward the bench as Ellis came up beside Jonus and Nikolai. The three men sat down together as Greg got comfortable with the instrument then pushed the damper pedal and began to warm up then play. Mostly some improvisations at first, just reveling in the feeling of playing again. He played several songs, eventually letting the damper go to enjoy the full sound of the piano.

Finally, Nikolai laid his hand on Greg's shoulder to call it a night. Greg stopped reluctantly, not wanting the moment to end but also not wanting to draw a correction or punishment after such a treasured reward. Several of the Brotherhood, including Jonus, Ellis and Tobias, applauded his playing as he stepped away from the piano.

"Nikolai, did you know he could play like that?" Ekaterina asked.

"No, I had no idea," Nikolai answered with a reassuring smile at Greg.

"What an appalling lack of curiosity," she chided lightly. "Greg, I do hope we get the chance to enjoy your playing again."

"Yes, Ma'am, if Master Nikolai approves," Greg responded.

About ten minutes later, Greg was dressed and leashed, following Nikolai out to the car and climbing into the backseat. "What did you think of the dinner tonight?" Nikolai asked, glancing into the rearview mirror.

"It was… surreal," Greg answered. "Being not just noticed but the center of attention goes against everything they trained into me. People actually wanted to talk to me, even the other slaves. And other than your house, I've never seen anyone feed slaves the same food they were eating. Unless it was doggy bag style leftovers."

"I'm glad you enjoyed dinner," Nikolai chuckled. "The cooks at the estate would go on strike if we asked them to serve the kind of slop they do in the slave canteen."He's

"Will you tell me about Jonus and Ellis?" Greg asked with a slightly worried expression on his face.

"Jonus owns a private security firm that serves private individuals mostly. He's a bit gung ho, kind of rough mannered most of the time but the kind of person you want defending you in a fight. His tastes run to the BDSM type. The girl, Raven, she's one of his slaves. Ellis is a physician. He's the medical director at Trenton Medical Institute. If you haven't figured it out, he and Jonus are a couple and yes, his tastes run to BDSM as well, but he also is very interested in the mental aspect of it moreso than just the pain equals pleasure part. Together they make quite a training pair but not every slave can train under them. Ellis can work with slaves that aren't BDSM so long as he has access to some that are but Jonus can't. They don't interest him and he doesn't know what to do with them. They are both very interested in you."

"Great," Greg groused. "Just what I need, a whipping that's supposed to end with a bang."

"It's a bit different than that," Nikolai said wryly. "You have the right mentality and personality to enjoy them. We'll see if you can enjoy any BDSM aspects. I want you to grab their attention, particularly Ellis. Understand?"

"No. Just because he's a doctor? What does it matter?"

"It matters because if he is interested enough it could affect your future. Think about whether you'd rather spend your life at the hospital or with the Brotherhood and then decide whether to try to get to know them," Nikolai advised, leaving Greg deep in thought at the prospect of potentially leaving the hospital.


	10. Chapter 10

**To all of my readers who sent prayers and good thoughts to me during the last couple of months, I want you to know that my wife is free from pain at last, having passed away on April 30, 2016. I am slowly picking up the threads of my stories again and will update as I can. Thank you for your understanding and support.**

* * *

The next two days went by in a haze for Greg. A couple of cases were assigned to the department but both were quickly solved and treated. He did his clinic hours and home chores in silence, speaking only when necessary, as his whole mind was consumed with thoughts of the Brotherhood and the brief glimpse he'd gotten of them. Just the thought of playing the piano every now and again made him want to leap into their arms but he couldn't help but think that this may be an unattainable dream. After all, for all the complaints and noises that the hospital made about him, Nikolai's efforts had served as a dual-edged sword; he made Greg interesting to the Brotherhood but also obedient and profitable to the hospital. How much had the hospital paid for him? Had he increased or decreased in value over the years? He assumed that slaves lost value as they aged and he had the infarction as well. Still, would interest from the Brotherhood inflate his actual value? Would they still consider him a worthwhile investment if it did? Or was he getting his hopes up just to be shattered?

Nikolai let Greg have the time to really think about a future, about having even the slightest say in what his future would hold. It would require a lot of training and teaching to get Greg ready and it would require a lot mentally from Greg as well. Nikolai wasn't certain yet whether Greg had the emotional strength and mental fortitude to make the changes in his thinking. He knew that Greg's personality had been mishandled by the Slave Administration center. Oh, they did what they were trained to do, make him an obedient slave for initial sale, but they didn't take into account what he would become in the long term. The fact was that they failed to do so with most of the slaves and that was where the Brotherhood had the most issues with them. Short of a lobotomy, slaves would eventually begin to think for themselves again; the longer they had been a slave, the more this was true. The Slave Administration's answer for this was retraining. Take them back to that shell-shocked state they first came out with. People who wanted slaves like that should get a robot and be done with it, Nikolai thought with a growl.

Still, Greg was putting serious time into thinking things over and that was a positive sign. Time to take the first steps toward becoming a slave of the Brotherhood with him. Nikolai opened his laptop and sent out a couple of quick emails then called the Diagnostics Department to speak with Greg.

"Master Nikolai," Greg said when handed the phone by Foreman.

"I need an answer from you, Greg. I need to know whether you've decided to try to be purchased by the Brotherhood or take the familiar route and remain with the hospital."

"Um…I wasn't…I didn't know I had a choice," Greg stuttered. "I thought it would be something you'd decide with Master Tobias."

Nikolai smiled at Greg's automatic use of master applied to Tobias as well now. "The choice to purchase is theirs. The choice to do everything to make them want to purchase you is yours. I won't lie to you; it will take work on your part. It will challenge your beliefs and touch on some of your deepest hurts. It will definitely be worth it. I'll be there through the whole process with you. But you have to choose and then commit to your choice wholeheartedly. I need to know your choice very soon, Greg."

"I…I understand. This evening. I'll let you know after work."

"Good enough. If you choose to try for the Brotherhood, I want you to do something to demonstrate your commitment."

"Do what in particular?"

"Think on it. You'll get the answer quick enough. I'll see you at 5:30 in my office."

"Right, 5:30, Master Nikolai," Greg responded hanging up the phone and heading into his office. He wondered what Nikolai could possibly be referring to and then was struck with the realization when he noticed the leash on the corner of his desk. He took a deep breath as he stared at it, already feeling the anxiety of leashing himself in the hospital building up. Could he do it? Well, he had at the house. Could he do it here? In the hospital? He wanted to leap at the chance the Brotherhood was hinting at providing, desperately wanted to. Was he desperate enough to do this?

At lunchtime, Greg's office door opened and he looked up to see Wilson standing there with a smile that sent a frisson of warning up Greg's spine.

"Come to my office, Greg. I've got lunch for you," Wilson said cheerfully.

Greg glanced at the clock; still an hour and a half before he was due in the clinic. Without a valid reason to avoid going, he shut down his computer and got up to follow Wilson back to his office. He still vividly remembered the way Nikolai had disciplined him for turning down Wilson's lunch before and really didn't want to do that again today. He had more important things to think about.

"Sit down on the sofa, Greg, I'll get lunch laid out," Wilson said as he bustled about behind the desk with an insulated bag. He started pulling out containers and Greg had to admit that the food smelled really good. Wilson brought all the food over on a tray and put it down on the coffee table in front of the sofa then sat down directly in front of it. "I made this especially with you in mind, so I hope you like it."

Greg watched warily as Wilson got a forkful of the food and held it out to him, clearly meaning to feed it to him. He allowed himself a small sigh then opened his mouth to take the offered bite. It tasted as good as it smelled and he nodded appreciatively hoping that he might now be allowed to eat on his own. No such luck. Wilson was now taking a bite of his own dish before gathering another mouthful for Greg and holding it out to him.

"You know, this would be easier if you were facing me," Wilson said suddenly. "Push the coffee table up against my desk then sit on the floor in front of me."

Alarm bells were ringing in Greg's head but Wilson wasn't doing anything that violated the tagging rights that Nikolai had claimed. He did as Wilson wanted, settling on the floor in front of him then grimacing and scooting closer when ordered to. Soon his feet were under the sofa in order to keep from having to sit cross legged, which left Wilson's feet placed between his thighs right at his groin.

"Much better, don't you think?" Wilson said with a smile, holding out the morsel of food again, smiling wider when Greg leaned forward to eat it.

"I prefer the sofa but whatever you want," Greg answered, daring to push a little and see how far Wilson intended to take this session.

"Yes, whatever I want and I prefer this way," Wilson agreed. "So tell me about your current case."

Glad to have a neutral topic, Greg filled Wilson in on the case while being fed, telling him the direction the team was leaning and what he had diagnosed it to be. Wilson chuckled at the team's determination to prove Greg wrong. "Just don't leave them on the wrong track too long, for the patient's sake."

"I always do what is right for my patients," Greg answered indignantly.

"But not always at the right time. You let things play out too long with your team, in my opinion."

"They have to learn how to do this themselves not just come to me for the answer," Greg retorted.

"You should do more to steer them in the right direction instead of letting them flounder around aimlessly," Wilson chided. "Anyway, I wanted you here because I've had one hell of a morning and need to blow off a little steam. Oh, don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to violate Nikolai's tagging rights. I value my job. But I have investigated the limits of what can and can't be done with a tagged slave just to make sure what I had in mind conformed to the rules and it does. Strip down. No, don't stand up, strip down right there and hand me your clothes."

Greg had a sinking feeling that this was about to go bad but did as Wilson ordered. He had to shuffle around a bit to get out of his jeans and shoes and he took as long as he dared but all too soon he was sitting nude on Wilson's floor.

"Still wearing that harness, I see," Wilson noted with satisfaction. Seeing Greg trussed up made him quite aroused. "Are you a slow learner for that lesson or just being stubborn? Hmm? Answer me."

"A little of both, sir," Greg said through gritted teeth.

"Of course, you're stubborn. That's what turns me on about you." Wilson toed off his own shoes and used his feet to play with Greg, smiling as Greg became semi-erect. "I discovered that tagging rights only apply to the violation of direct orders from the owner of the tag and sexually, it means that no one can perform on you or require you to give oral sex or penetration. No serious punishments can be administered without informing the owner of the tag and giving him the option of supervising or administering his own punishment. Beyond that, so long as nothing is done to interfere in your duties or your ability to perform them, the sky's the limit. Isn't that great?" Wilson asked with a grin.

"What about your agreement to train with Master Nikolai?" Greg asked cautiously, hoping that reminding Wilson would derail whatever plans he had in store.

"This isn't anything that will violate that. Just some midday fun. Get onto all fours," Wilson ordered with a smirk as he undid his belt and slid it loose from his trousers. "I remember how often you were caned and whipped before he came along. How compliant and easy going you were afterwards. Almost like it was a drug and once you had your fix, you calmed back down again. Then I realized something the other day. I missed it. I missed seeing you fidgeting around on a sore ass from a caning and how quickly you'd respond to any order right afterward. Caning has to be cleared with your tag holder but a good old-fashioned spanking doesn't. I'm going to get your ass nice and pink for the rest of the hour we have before your due in the clinic," Wilson informed him gleefully. Greg groaned softly and dropped his head as he took position on his hands and knees. This was going to be a long hour.

Wilson put one hand on the small of Greg's back and made him stick his ass up and out to take the spanking then ordered him to keep his head up so that Wilson could see his face. He took almost fifteen minutes, alternating between the belt and his hand, spanking Greg. Never enough to welt or bruise but Greg's ass was cherry red and burning sensitive by the time Wilson was finished.

"That's nice. Just what I wanted," Wilson said as he ran his hand over Greg's reddened ass cheeks and felt the heat radiating from them. "When we're alone, I want you to call me Master James. Understand?"

"Yes, Master James," Greg intoned, internally rolling his eyes as Wilson tried, poorly, to imitate Nikolai.

"Gods, I love the way that sounds. Stand up."

Once Greg was standing Wilson ran his hands all over his body, including stroking him to a full erection before returning to the sofa to open his trousers and free his own cock. Greg thought for a moment that Wilson was going to challenge the tag requirements when he was ordered to kneel at Wilson's feet.

"Reach into the bag, Greg, there's something special in there to end our session with," Wilson ordered. "And answer me when I give you an order."

"Yes, Master James," Greg ground out pulling out what proved to be a livestock baby bottle and handing it to Wilson.

"I bought this especially for you. It's filled with your favorite milkshake. You can drink as much of it as you can through the nipple while I jack off but you have to stop when I come."

The good food that Greg was getting now at Nikolai's house made this 'reward' much less enticing than it would have been when he was only eating stolen lunches and the slave canteen slop. Still, it stayed within the letter of the tagging regulations so he felt he had little choice but to follow the order. He opened his mouth and took the calf nipple in. It was slightly bigger around than his thumb and as long as it. He began sucking, finding that the milkshake was quite thick and cold. He'd have to suck fairly hard to get any out, either that or fill his belly with air and deal with that while doing clinic duty. As soon as he started sucking, Wilson began to masturbate, watching Greg intently the whole time.

Seeing Greg on his knees with the 'flesh' colored nipple in his lips and sucking hard to get the frozen confection sent a hard rush of arousal straight to Wilson's cock. He could almost feel Greg's lips on him again as he worked himself toward orgasm. Just before he came he pulled the bottle away and held his thumb out, ordering Greg to suck on it. The icy cold on Greg's tongue and palate shoved him abruptly over the edge and he came long and hard. Wilson lay back against the sofa gasping for air for a couple of minutes until he started to come down from the sensation.

"Go into my bathroom and get the cleaning supplies to get this mess cleaned up. Then you can get dressed and go do your clinic duty," Wilson ordered as he stepped out of his soiled trousers and got into his garment bag for fresh clothes. He pulled his desk chair around to where he could watch Greg and sat down to watch him cleaning up the room on his hands and knees with his ass still hot pink. The only thing spoiling the picture was Nikolai's tag hanging from Greg's collar. Once Greg finished cleaning the room and put the cleaning supplies back, Wilson called him over.

"Did you enjoy your lunch and milkshake?"

"Yes, Master James," Greg said, though he had his fingers crossed behind his back. It was a childish gesture, he knew that, but the best that he could do at the moment. "Thank you, Master James."

"You're welcome. Get dressed and go back to work." Greg was dressed and out the door to the clinic in record time.

Greg went through his clinic patients methodically that afternoon, using the time and the mundane illnesses to think about what to say to Nikolai about this. He had thought briefly of not saying anything at all. Wilson hadn't technically violated tagging rights after all but Greg felt that he had violated the training agreement Nikolai had made with him. He decided the best plan of action was just to report the bare facts and not make any accusations against Wilson. Master Nikolai wanted to know what went on with his slaves; Greg would tell him what happened as dispassionately as possible and hope that he had taken Nikolai's measure correctly.

That decided, he turned his thoughts toward the commitment Nikolai asked him to make toward being purchased by the Brotherhood. If he remained at the hospital, Wilson would eventually get his tagging rights back. As much as he'd like to deny it, Greg knew it was true. Nikolai was chairman of the board. The people that held that position rarely stayed on more than three years. And Wilson was well-liked by the board and the hospital staff. He'd get tagging rights back eventually. After getting a glimpse of another aspect to life as a slave, Greg wanted to have everything the Brotherhood had to offer.

As the day drew to a close, Greg put the medical journals he'd been reading away, put on his jacket and turned off the office lights. There, caught in the light from the conference room, was the tabbed leash. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to will himself to be calm as he picked it up. He wanted what they had to offer and this was what Nikolai required as proof of his desire. It still felt like he was enslaving himself but this time, he felt like he was choosing his path, at least a little bit. Putting the tab between his teeth, he opened his eyes and headed for the elevator.

There were a lot of strange looks and plenty of jeering from the other hospital staff along the way. He even caught the slaves peering up at 'Crazy Greg' as they called him. He forced himself to ignore it all and concentrate on reaching Nikolai's office without trouble. Linda looked up at him and gave him a big smile of approval before coming around the desk to alert Nikolai and leave the door open for Greg to enter. Nikolai stood up and moved to the center of the room waiting as Greg walked directly to him, knelt before him, and held up the end of the leash on his open palms.

"Well done, Greg. Decision accepted," Nikolai praised him warmly, eyes shining with pride as he stroked his head and shoulders. "Come. Let's go home and celebrate this step you've made today."


	11. Chapter 11

When they arrived home, Nikolai called them all into the den and poured out a finger of brandy for everyone. "Greg leashed himself today at work and has made the decision to tantalize the Brotherhood into purchasing him outright. To Greg. Buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride," he toasted him.

"To Greg!" Sebastien and Maddie echoed, smiling at his accomplishment today."

Greg couldn't stop the smile that filled his face. It had been so long since he'd had such open praise from anyone. Add to that his first taste of alcohol since he'd been enslaved and he was in seventh heaven.

"Set the table for four, we'll have a family meal together," Nikolai said as he finished his brandy. The other three followed suit and split off to complete the evening chores quickly so that they could all enjoy the rare treat. An hour later, all four of them sat down at the table to enjoy dinner together. Nikolai and Sebastien carried the conversation and Greg was savoring every moment of it.

"Can you tell me anything about the Brotherhood, Master Nikolai?" Greg asked after a few minutes.

"Some general history and background, certainly," Nikolai agreed. "The Brotherhood is a national organization with regional chapters in each state. It's a secret society in that what we do in meetings is not to be shared with non-members. Even slaves, so no, you have not seen anything that couldn't be publicly known. Within the regional chapters there are usually four to seven districts, depending on the area population. Potential members are thoroughly vetted; free men must be sponsored in by an existing member under a mentoring agreement with approval from the District Chapter Head. There is an extensive apprenticeship program that must be followed before the initiate can be considered a full member and given access to any more than the most basic information."

"Slaves that are candidates are also thoroughly vetted; both their life as a slave and their life before they became a slave are considered. It's the only way to get a true measure of the person," Nikolai added as he noticed that Greg hunched down a little to know that his slide down that got him enslaved was known by Nikolai and at least whoever was District Chapter Head. "Slaves don't start with apprenticeship; they start with retraining. The zombie slaves that Slave Administration turns out are of no use to us," he added with clear dislike and disapproval in his voice.

"Once a slave has been retrained to our liking, the slave then enters an apprenticeship program, just like a free man. Completion of that program grants you full slave membership."

"What happens if a slave is sold?" Greg wanted to know. "I heard Mistress Ekaterina mentioning that there were a couple of slaves for sale."

"Once a slave has entered into our apprenticeship program, he or she is only sold within the Brotherhood's membership. Not every slave that joins becomes a fully vested Brotherhood member. The apprenticeship program isn't easy. Those slaves that don't are shifted to support members. Sometimes, slaves come to us very young and their path isn't clear, so they get put into support staff right away until we have decided whether to try them in the apprenticeship program. Some slaves shine as caregivers, like Maddie here and immediately become a support member. Sebastien, on the other hand, if a full slave member of the Brotherhood."

Greg glanced between Maddie and Sebastien, reassessing his view of them in light of this new information. "So, am I even started on the process yet?"

"Technically, you're still on the vetting process, since we haven't purchased you yet but I've been working with you on the retraining program already."

"I wanted to ask you about about valuation. Does a slave hold the same value over time? Do they appreciate or depreciate in value? And what does the retraining you're giving me do to the price the hospital might ask for me?" he asked, clearly anxious about whether the Brotherhood would buy him if the price was too high.

"Throught the Slave Administration, slaves generally depreciate over time, especially those put to hard labor. Ten years is an average time period until they have depreciated enough to have 'salvage value' which is a base figure. Those slaves are generally sold off into marginal positions and often don't live beyond five more years. Your situation, had you not had the infarction, could have made you useful to the hospital for twenty years but as it is, you are reaching a point where they won't be able to work you as hard as they want to. Your disciplinary issues are only hastening that day. Your prospects after the hospital are pretty bleak. The retraining I'm giving you will give you some added value to the Hospital and likely they will inflate the price when an offer is made to try to recoup as much of the money spent on your care and the diagnostics department as possible."

"What if the price is too high for the Brotherhood to consider? Should I just resign myself to going back to Wilson after your tenure as chairman?" he asked flatly, looking down at his plate.

"Look at me, Greg." Nikolai waited until Greg looked up and met his gaze. "The Brotherhood will pay very well to purchase a slave that they want and it isn't only money that we have to offer. You've caught the eye of several of them. You just concentrate on that and let me and Tobias worry about the business details. Fair enough?"

"Okay," Greg agreed. "Fair enough."

"And don't even think of trying to lessen your value to the hospital in some way either," Nikolai warned him, wanting to nip that line of thought in the bud. "Anything you did to lessen your value to the hospital would also affect your chances at being purchased by The Brotherhood. Understand?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai," Greg answered, grimacing that his thoughts had been that transparent. "I understand."

After dessert had been cleaned up, Nikolai called Greg to come back to the den with him. Greg decided now was the time to tell what had happened with Wilson.

"Master Nikolai, something happened today you should know about. Dr Wilson called me to his office for lunch today. He investigated just how far he could work around the tagging rules without violating them."

"What did he do?" Nikolai asked with a frown.

"After he fed me lunch, he had me strip off and get on all fours while he used his hand and a belt to spank me. He had me suck a milkshake out of a calf baby bottle in full view of him while he masturbated and finished by having me suck his thumb until he climaxed. Then he sent me off to work my clinic hours."

"Thank you for telling me. I'll deal with him," Nikolai said darkly and Greg knew that he was right; what Wilson had done wasn't in keeping with his agreement with Nikolai.

"Now, I wanted to talk to about what we'll have to add to your training to make you irresistible to The Brotherhood."

"You mean to Ellis and Jonus, right?" Greg asked with a little trepidation.

"Them in particular, yes, but the more people who are interested in you, the better. I'm going to take you to some training with Tobias, to get you used to the basics of what Ellis and Jonus like in BDSM. We'll do some practice work here at the house at night and at work every now and then. The first thing I'm going to do is take you to see Ellis for a proper physical workup. I know you had one this year, but the slave doctors at PPTH don't do as thorough a job as Ellis will for you."

"The slave doctors here are nothing but hacks that the hospital can't afford to let work on free people," Greg said bitterly.

"I know. That's why I'm taking you to Ellis. Now, I'm going to start teaching you the basics of what slaves in The Brotherhood are expected to know. The first thing we start with is erotic display, which you got a taste of already. Contrary to what the hospital and most slave owners expect, you want to draw attention to yourself. In a good way of course; you've mastered the art of drawing attention in a bad way," Nikolai said with a wry smile.

Nikolai worked with him for an hour or so, finding positions that he could get into and hold, different poses that would be pleasing to women and which would be pleasing for men. Greg found this exercise extremely awkward; he didn't feel sexy or appealing no matter how he posed. Nikolai finally called an end to the lesson for the night.

"Well, this is going to take a little work and I think we'll need some help from some of the others for you to really work with and see how the kind of response I want you to try to elicit from them."

"Sorry. I just don't feel at all appealing," Greg admitted.

"We'll work on that. Is that something that you felt before you were enslaved or after?"

"Both, but much worse after. Anyone can use you; it's like you're nothing more than a sex toy. You don't have to be appealing, you just have to be available."

"I understand that. We'll work on it. I told you this was going to be hard and challenge your beliefs. Go ahead and shower. I'll see you in the morning."

The next morning, Greg was wakened very early by Sebastien and taken to Nikolai's bedroom. Sebastien had him step up onto a very small platform and secured his hands in wrist cuffs over his head and gagged him before taking the platform and leaving him there. The end result left him hanging in the same type of position that he did when winched up in Nikolai's office. Greg wondered what was going on and then wondered if this meant he got out of chores this morning.

Within half an hour, Nikolai woke up. He glanced at Greg then stood up and stretched, stripping off his clothes and heading into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later the shower started up and Greg realized that he was positioned with a full on view of the shower. It was a large walk in, with no shower doors or walls to block his view of Nikolai. His master took his time in the shower, sensuously lathering his body, clearly enjoying his own touch and making certain he was on full display for Greg.

Greg looked away a couple of times but found his eyes drawn back to watching, finally just openly ogling him. By the time Nikolai stepped out of the shower he was sporting a full erection. He didn't bother with a towel, simply drip dried while combing his hair and shaving, finally coming out into the bedroom. Greg wasn't fully erect but he was definitely aroused.

Nikolai came over to him and slid the platform up so that Greg could stand on it then released him from his cuffs. "Good morning, Greg. Go do your chores now."

He was surprised to be dismissed like that; he'd expected some more training after that display. He hesitated a moment, which caught Nikolai's attention. His master gently caressed his face for a moment then again told him to go do his chores. Greg nodded, still gagged, and left the room, confused by the whole encounter. Sebastien met him in the hallway, removed the gag and disappeared into Nikolai's room to help him get ready for the day.

When Greg appeared in the kitchen for breakfast, Maddie handed him two brown bags.

"Master Nikolai ordered breakfast to go this morning. Meet him in the front hall," she said with a smile.

Soon enough Greg had the leash tab in his teeth and climbed into the car.

"We're going to see Ellis this morning, Greg. You can eat on the way to the hospital afterward," Nikolai told him.

They parked the car in a private rear lot, after the guard checked the roster for Nikolai's guest pass. Greg followed him very carefully, silent and eyes down, so as not to attract any undue attention. He noticed that Nikolai had brought him to what appeared to be a slave clinic, as there were several master/slave pairs there, and only the slaves followed the nurses into the rooms. He could feel his anxiety ramping up as they checked in at the desk. Nikolai led him to a row of chairs away from anyone else and stroked his shoulders soothingly as he knelt down. A few minutes later, Greg was called.

A nurse came over and greeted Nikolai warmly. "This is Greg, I take it? Come along, Greg. My name is Nancy, I'll be helping Dr Ellis this morning," she said as she accepted the leash from Nikolai's hand. Greg got up at once but looked frantically back at Nikolai, pleading with him to come with him.

"It's all right, Greg. Go with Nancy; do as she says. She's like a mother bear, no one will hurt her cubs. Nancy, I'll be right here if he needs me," he added though, which greatly reassured Greg. He followed Nancy closely into the farthest exam room.

"Okay Greg, strip down. You can put your clothes over on that chair. Let's get height and weight first, then sit up on the exam table," Nancy said as she started a chart for him.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Nancy quickly took his vital signs, had him give a urine sample and drew blood. Her manner was frank and she had a sarcastic sense of humor that helped him relax a little. Just as she was finishing up with the blood draw, Ellis came into the room.

"Good morning, Greg," he said, taking the chart from Nancy to read through his vitals. "How are you feeling today? You look nervous."

"Yes, sir."

"I can't say that I'm surprised," Ellis said shaking his head and sighing. "Nikolai isn't going to leave you here and I'm not going to hurt you. He asked me to give you a physical, said I'm a much better doctor than those in your hospital's slave clinic. I think he's just flattering me, but hey, I like my ego stroked as much as the next man."

Greg couldn't help but snort with poorly held in laughter at the innuendo, which made both Ellis and Nancy smile.

"That's better. So. How are you feeling lately?"

"Pretty good, sir," Greg admitted as Nancy left the room with the samples.

"You can speak freely to me and Nancy, Greg. This is part of the checks and balances we have in place. If you aren't being properly cared for, we're the ones to bring it up to."

"No! I mean, no, sir, Master Nikolai treats me fine. Better than I've been treated for years. I get seven to eight hours of sleep almost every night and three meals a day, not just two."

"Good. Have you been caned? Whipped? What about abrasions from use or that harness?"

"I haven't been whipped. I was caned by Master Nikolai but he never broke the skin. Master's slave, Sebastien, has been taking care of the harness but I haven't felt like there are any abrasions."

"I'll double check as part of the exam," Ellis said, taking out his stethoscope to begin the exam. He was thorough, even giving him a basic eye exam and hearing test. "Sounds good."

Ellis went over to the door and shouted for Nancy.

"You bellowed?" she said, popping her head in a moment later.

"Tell Nikolai I need the keys."

She disappeared and returned half a minute later with the keys. Ellis took them and unlocked the harness, removing it completely before checking him thoroughly for abrasions and a prostate check for good measure.

"How long have you been wearing this?"

"Ever since he tagged me."

Ellis made a noise of disapproval as he noted that down. "Okay. I know you're a doctor. Tell me about your leg, what they told you and what you know about it."

Greg told him the whole story, how the infarction happened over the weekend and subsequently was treated too late to do any good. The hospital had settled on the muscle resection rather than an amputation although both had been discussed. Ellis had him show him what range of motion he could still do with it then put the dildo back in, locked the harness and told him that he could get dressed.

"Let's go get Nikolai and have a chat," Ellis said, leashing Greg and leading him back into the waiting area. "Nikolai, come to my office," Ellis said, leading the way with Greg in tow.

"Pour out three coffees, Greg and have a seat on the sofa there," Ellis ordered as soon as they were in his office, taking the leash and laying it on the corner of his desk. Nikolai came into the room a few seconds later, carrying his briefcase and both bag breakfasts.

"Is one of those his?" Ellis asked. Nikolai nodded and traded Greg a bag for a cup of coffee. "Feel free to eat that, Greg."

"So how is he?" Nikolai asked as he took a sip of coffee.

"Overall, he's healthy, but I'm not happy with the strain on his joints from the way his bad leg causes him to walk. I'll know more specifics once I get his blood work back," Ellis responded. "And whatever training goal you have set for that harness needs to be realized in three days or you need to choose another method to train it. No extensions. Understand?" he said, fixing Nikolai with a sharp look.

"Yes, I understand, Ellis," Nikolai answered. He'd known he was running out of time for using it full time and had no doubt that Ellis would be checking up on him in three days time.

"Good. I want you to bring him to the Sylvan Estate at least three days a week for some range of motion pool exercises," Ellis continued, only to be interrupted by Greg.

"No. I'm not going to get anything back, the damn muscle's gone. It's a waste of time," he said sharply, drawing the attention of both masters. Greg gulped but refused to back down on this.

"I know you won't get anything back. But you will have some gain on your other joints and your back. I want you in water at least to your chest and wearing a thin life jacket; that way your bad leg will have little weight to support at all. You be the judge of how much motion that leg can take. I do not want you to risk hurting it but I think you'll benefit from loosening up the tension on all your other muscles," Ellis explained, giving Nikolai a hand motion to remain silent for now.

Greg wanted to flat out refuse him but he couldn't. What Ellis was proposing was reasonable, especially if he was going to give Greg the decision over what his bad leg could and could not do. The life jacket would make it possible to do range of motion with his good leg and not strain his bad one. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"I think those conditions might just work. I'll try it," he agreed.

"Excellent," Ellis said with a smile. He and Nikolai spoke for a few minutes longer, until Greg finished his breakfast then Nikolai stood and picked up the leash. "Will you be at the meeting tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be there and Greg is serving as a waiter for the dinner beforehand. Thank you for your time this morning, Ellis," Nikolai said. He shook hands with Ellis and leashed up Greg, who exchanged a nod of thanks and goodbye with Ellis, and they headed off to work.


	12. Chapter 12

Greg was surprised that Nikolai didn't say anything about his protest over Ellis' orders for pool exercises. He was worried that perhaps he was in for a disciplinary session when they got to the hospital but Nikolai unleashed him in his office and wished him a good day, reminding him to be in his office at five, so that they could leave in time for the dinner that evening.

"Master Nikolai?"

"Yes, Greg?"

"Am I in trouble for objecting to Dr. Ellis' treatment plan?"

Nikolai chuckled and shook his head. "No, Greg. You aren't in any trouble. Ellis dealt with your objections. He's plenty capable of disciplining a slave on the spot, no matter whose slave it is. He didn't consider what you did worthy of discipline and neither do I."

"That's something else that's different in the Brotherhood then," Greg said, relieved to not have to worry about that all day.

Nikolai agreed and nodded that he should head up to diagnostics. Once Greg was gone, he sat down at his desk and phoned Dr. Wilson's assistant.

"Please tell Dr. Wilson I need to speak to him today before two."

"He's in if you'd like to hold I can put you through, sir," the assistant said politely.

"No. Just give him the message, thank you," Nikolai said, hanging up the line. Not speaking to Wilson personally would give the man a greater sense of urgency and bring him to Nikolai's office sooner rather than later. He was still very angry at the way Wilson had circumvented the tagging rules and used Greg, let alone the way he had blatantly gone outside of their apprenticeship training agreement. It made Wilson a liability to him and a danger to Greg as well as Nikolai's plan to get the Brotherhood to purchase Greg. He'd be damned if he'd let Wilson destroy this chance to get Greg out of the Slave Administration's direct supervision.

Wilson arrived in Nikolai's office at 11:30 am, after his 11 a.m. appointment cancelled.

"Come in," Nikolai said briskly. "Lock the door and pull the blinds."

Wilson blinked, looking around for a slave in the room, thinking this would be a training session, as he complied with Nikolai's orders. He came into the room and started to take a seat.

"Did I say that you could sit down?" Nikolai asked sharply from behind the desk. He hadn't even looked up from the paperwork he was working on yet.

Wilson froze halfway into the chair then slowly rose out of it, uncertain what to make of this strange situation. He stood in front of the desk while Nikolai finished whatever he was working on and put it aside.

"I require all slaves that I own or tag to report all interactions they have with people that they work around and people who give them orders during their shifts. Greg told me about your lunch with him yesterday."

Wilson smiled with relief and fond memory of the event. "Yes, I brought lunch from home, enough for two and enjoyed his company. He wasn't late to clinic, was he? I sent him out in plenty of time to get there," he asked, thinking perhaps Greg had hidden instead. He started to sit down again.

"Stand up until your are given permission to do otherwise!" Nikolai snapped.

"I don't understand why you're so angry," Wilson said, straightening up again. He was confused and becoming irritated. "I don't know what kind of story Greg fed you, but I did not hurt him, hinder him from his job, or violate your tagging rights in anyway. I fed him a good meal, even gave him a milkshake for dessert."

Nikolai got up from his chair and stalked around his desk. Wilson turned to face him. "Greg arrived on time. He is learning his place well. You on the other hand, I have grave doubts about."

"What do you mean? It wasn't all that different from what you did when Greg refused to eat the sandwich you sent me up with," Wilson explained. "Yes, I did have him strip, sit on the floor at my feet. Yes, I did strap him. But I didn't use him and I didn't have him give me a blowjob or anything. He got fed well. I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is that you specifically investigated just how much you could get away with and stay just barely within the rules that apply to tagging rights. Masturbating while having him suck on a calf's bottle of milkshake, then sucking on your thumb with cold lips and tongue while you cum. That sounds very much like a blowjob to me, even if he never took you directly into his mouth."

"You and I made an agreement, James. That you would be apprentice and learn to master a slave from me. I expected that you would be using your free time to observe and think on different training and discipline methods, not researching how to get around the rules that I laid out. I consider what you did yesterday a violation of my tagging rights and a large violation to the training agreement we have," Nikolai told him with dark disapproval.

"I didn't violate the tagging rights," Wilson asserted. "Yes, all right, I checked into them and made sure that what I had planned didn't cross the line. I told you that Greg was the reason I wanted to learn in the first place. I don't know why you're so surprised that I would try to find a way to snag some time with him and still stay within the rules," he added with exasperation. "It's not like I hurt him."

"There are other ways to hurt slaves than physically," Nikolai stated coldly. "Let me make my expectations clearer to you. While Greg is tagged by me, you will have no contact beyond that of doctor colleagues except while under my direct supervision. This means you will not leash him, engage in any sexual activity, order him to strip, flog him in anyway, gag him, or ask him to eat in any manner other than as a free person would. Is that perfectly clear to you now?"

"Perfectly," Wilson answered irritatedly. "I don't get any time with Greg as a slave unless you've agreed and are present. Fine."

"This does not bode well for your apprenticeship, you realize?"

"How so? How does this have anything to do with it?" Wilson asked, half angry and half confused.

"An apprentice must follow the instructions of the master exactly in order to learn. Especially in the beginning. If you are willing to go to such extremes to find a loophole in the tagging rules, I can only assume you will go to equal lengths to circumvent my rules as an apprentice."

"I haven't challenged your rules as an apprentice though. And even if I did, I can't be the only apprentice to ever do that," Wilson argued.

"No, there have been others. They either learned their place quickly or were thrown out of the program entirely," Nikolai answered. "Now I have to decide whether you can learn your place or if I should just cut you free right now."

"Look, I'm sorry. I miss Greg. None of the other slaves intrigue me like he does. They're all…" Wilson floundered for the right words. "They're all too submissive. Broken."

"And that explains why you could never master him properly," Nikolai returned. "You want him just obedient enough to be kept but rebellious enough to act out and prove he hasn't been broken. You must enjoy watching him be punished for his transgressions."

Wilson rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and offered a rueful smile. "Well… I do. I know I probably shouldn't but I do."

"That's not as unusual as you seem to think it is. But mishandled, overused, it can put you down a very dark and dangerous road." Nikolai contemplated Wilson for a long moment. After hearing his proclivities and his obsession with Greg, it would be safer to keep the man close, where he could keep an eye on him.

"If you submit yourself to a correction for violating my tagging rights, in spirit if not by the letter of the rules, then I will keep you on as an apprentice."

"You will? Great. What kind of correction?" Wilson asked.

"A test of willpower, James. I want you to take off your jacket, belt, tie, shoes and socks. Now."

Wilson frowned but complied, setting all the items neatly aside and looking back at Nikolai.

"Now, sit down on that chair," Nikolai said, pointing to one of two in front of his desk. "Get into a position you are comfortable in. Good. Now your task is to remain silent and still until I tell you otherwise. Do not fidget. Do not look around the room. Clear?"

"Yes, clear," Wilson answered as he settled into the chair, thinking this was silly but if that was what Nikolai demanded then so be it.

As soon as Wilson was settled and still, Nikolai returned to his seat at the desk and went back to work, ignoring Wilson just as he ignored Greg before. He set a timer on his laptop, wanting to see just how long could Wilson last this way. Ten minutes. Wilson lasted ten minutes before he started to have to stifle his desire to move, to rub his neck, move his feet, and any number of small nervous habits. Nikolai continued to ignore him, just as he would Greg although he was greatly amused at what a struggle Wilson was having. Maybe he should have strung him up like Greg, he mused. Tempting but Wilson was a free man and not a member of the Brotherhood. It was far too risky to do anything like that with him.

For his part, Wilson was finding it increasingly difficult to sit still the longer this went on. The more he tried to force himself to sit still, it seemed the more he wanted to move. And Nikolai just sat there doing paperwork. Twenty-five minutes in, Wilson was sure that this was some form of torture. He itched everywhere! Felt like something was crawling on him and the desire to leap up and scratch was almost overpowering. He was starting to sweat, getting anxious.

Nikolai had turned on the camera on his laptop, so that he could watch Wilson without actually looking up at him. Good, he had finally gone past annoyance and was actually experiencing a true correction. Nikolai opened up his email and worked so he could watch even more closely. He wanted to release him just before the point where he would jump up and break it on his own. The point was for him to comply not to fail. Another six minutes and he saw the signs building.

"You may move now, James. There's cold water in the fridge, help yourself. I'll order in some lunch for us," Nikolai said. Wilson leapt to his feet, rubbing his hands up and down his arms to get rid of the creepy crawly feeling and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Nikolai called Linda and had her go to the cafeteria to pick up two lunches while he put on some water to boil for tea.

"Okay, that was… wow. That was harder than I thought it would be," Wilson said after chugging half the bottle of water in one go.

"It can be quite hard to achieve if you aren't used to being still and silent for long periods," Nikolai acknowledged, letting him pace around the office to burn off the anxious energy he'd built up.

"Why did you have me take off these?" Wilson asked, gesturing to his clothing though he made no move to put it back on yet.

"I find it's better to remove any restrictive clothing first in this type of exercise and let the mind provide its own restrictions. And there is a degree of vulnerability raised by the removal of clothing. Ask any slave," Nikolai said with a meaningful look.

Wilson let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah that makes sense."

It took most of the meal before Wilson had burned off enough of his nervous energy to sit down and finish. Nikolai didn't react to him pacing around, nor push him to sit down and when he had finished eating, he sent him on his way.

A couple of hours later, Cuddy came into his office accompanied by an upset woman. "Mr. Airsid, this is Ms. Kennedy. She has a complaint about Dr. House."

"Ms. Kennedy," Nikolai greeted her respectfully. "Please tell me what happened."

"I came to the clinic to get treatment for a sore throat that I thought was a cold. Dr. House listened to what described then he called me an idiot and told me to stop wasting his time."

"Did he give you a diagnosis?"

"He said I strained my vocal chords at the football game last weekend."

"Did you attend the football game?"

"Yeah, it was a great game," she said breaking out into a grin. "But even if that's the reason, I don't think a doctor should have the right to call me an idiot and tell me to stop wasting his time."

"No, he certainly did not have the right to say those things to you. Let me call him down to apologize to you and I assure you, I will take disciplinary action against him."

"Okay but… I don't want him to lose his job or anything," she said with a frown.

"No, he isn't going to lose his job. But I do need to impress upon him that this type of behavior can't be tolerated."

"I'll send someone for him," Cuddy said, intending to send security up to drag him down.

"No need, he's perfectly capable of walking down here on his own," Nikolai said staring pointedly at Cuddy until she relented and nodded. He picked up the phone and called Diagnostics.

"Doctor House? Greg, I need you to come to my office right away. There's no need to change, just come down right now. Thank you."

Cuddy frowned at Nikolai but said nothing more in front of the patient. She had always had to send security to grab Greg and bring him down for punishment and Nikolai thought that he would walk down here on his own to receive it just because of the short time he'd been working with him? Not possible.

Upstairs in diagnostics, Greg set the phone back on the cradle with a trembling hand and stared at it in shock. It took about a minute for him to muster the courage to move but he forced himself to go. He was pale and shaking when he arrived at Nikolai's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Nikolai said. "Dr. House, you treated Ms. Kennedy in the clinic today. You called her an idiot and told her that she was wasting your time. This type of behavior is unacceptable to me. Apologize to Ms. Kennedy."

Greg swallowed hard and turned to face her. "I was out of line. What I said was rude and inappropriate. I'm sorry."

"Thank you for apologizing. And thank you for taking this so seriously, Mr. Airsid, Dr. Cuddy."

The woman left and Greg stayed frozen in place, knowing that there was going to be more to this than merely apologizing to a patient.

Cuddy stood up and smiled at Nikolai. "Wow. I would have put good money down that he wouldn't walk down here on his own. Whatever you've been doing is working."

"Thank you, Dr. Cuddy," Nikolai answered, getting up and moving an upholstered side chair into place directly in front of his desk. "Greg, strip down."

Greg mechanically began to remove his clothes, folding them and setting them aside on a small end table.

"Come here." Nikolai picked up a small throw pillow and held it on the back of the chair. "Bend over the chair and hold onto the front legs with your hands."

Greg licked his lips and stepped forward, getting into the position Nikolai ordered. It was awkward and a little uncomfortable although the pillow helped quite a bit. He blinked as a gag bit appeared in his field of vision then opened his mouth and bit down on it, surprised when Nikolai didn't buckle it into place.

"Do not drop the bit and keep your position until I release you, Greg."

Nikolai went back to his desk and sat down while Cuddy looked between him and Greg with some confusion.

"Aren't you going to discipline him?" she asked after it became clear that he wasn't going to do anything else.

"I am disciplining him," Nikolai said casually. "Just because it doesn't fit in with your idea of discipline, doesn't mean that I'm not doing it."

"But-" Cuddy began but subsided at a gesture from Nikolai.

"The board's ruling gave me free rein to make my own program. I'm sure it appears unconventional compared to the way your slave manager runs the hospital's program, but that program didn't work with Greg. I think his behavior overall since I tagged him demonstrates that unconventional is working for him, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, yes. Yes, it is. I'll leave you to it then," Cuddy agreed, realizing that Greg had had only one clinic complaint and no staff complaints so far under Nikolai's training. She wouldn't argue with success, especially when Nikolai's version kept Greg healthy and able to work everyday, rather than require three days recovery time in the slave ward after a judicial whipping.

Nikolai ignored Greg for well over an hour. Greg shifted around a lot as time went by, Without being physically restrained, he had to hold himself in position and couldn't relax his muscles and let restraints hold him. Even having to hold the bit was a strain. All of his muscles were screaming at him to move after the first twenty minutes but he forced himself to stay put. Finally, Nikolai got back up and came around the desk to Greg.

"Alright, stand up," he said, taking hold of his arm and supporting him as he struggled upright again. Nikolai took the bit out of his mouth. "Get yourself a bottle of water to drink. Use the restroom if you need to."

While Greg did this, Nikolai gathered his laptop and some files to work on, carried them over to the sofa and sat down. When Greg emerged from the bathroom, Nikolai crooked a finger at him to come over.

"I know this thing with Wilson yesterday and Ellis this morning put you on edge, and I understand you were anxious and frustrated. But under no circumstances will I tolerate you acting out like that. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Nikolai."

"Good." Nikolai pushed the coffee table out away from the sofa with his foot. "There's a yoga mat in the corner over there. Roll it out on the table top and sit down facing me. Good. Now, let's continue practicing. Turn slightly to the side, bend your knee and put your foot flat on the table. Put your arm behind you and lean on your hand. Now, remember, the idea of this position is to look seductively appealing."

"I don't think I can get it up, Master Nikolai," Greg said cautiously.

Nikolai smiled and nodded. "I'll excuse that this time. Practice the rest."

Nikolai worked while Greg practiced finding and holding appealing positions, even with Linda coming in once to discuss a few things with him for the following day. Nikolai let Greg shift around and change up positions this time, reminding him to move as smoothly as possible. Finally at four o'clock, he released him.

"Alright, get dressed and go back to diagnostics. Wrap things up for the day and be back here at five."

Greg promised to be on time and headed back to diagnostics.


	13. Chapter 13

Greg was back at Nikolai's office at 4:55, earning a look of approval from his master. They left the hospital shortly thereafter and headed directly to Tobias' house again. Mikael opened the door for them, greeting Nikolai and passing the message that he had been told to get Greg to work right away.

"Of course. Go with him Greg," Nikolai responded, removing his leash and heading off toward the den where Tobias was having pre-dinner drinks.

"So, I'm supposed to be a waiter tonight?" Greg asked as he followed Mikael.

"Yes. There'll be another slave assigned to carry the tray of dinner plates. You'll take them from the tray and place them in front of the masters and mistresses. Get anything else they need, fill and refill drinks. Take the plates when they're done. Typical waiter tasks. First you need to get changed into the uniform of the night."

"Uniform?"

"Not like you're thinking," Mikael said with a grin. "In here. Hey, Eric," he called out to a man who was grooming another slave, oiling his skin up to a soft sheen. "This is Greg, Master Nikolai's tag. Master Tobias said to make sure he's properly groomed and dressed to wait tables tonight."

"Thanks, Mikael. Greg, strip down. You can put your clothes in one of those cubbies there," Eric said, pointing to the row of baskets on a shelf against the far wall. Greg nodded and quickly complied, folding his clothes carefully and putting them on top of his shoes in one of the baskets.

"That's Jewel," Eric said, nodding to a young woman just coming into the room, wearing nothing but a leather mini skirt and collar. "Jewel, make sure Greg's shaved properly while I finish up with Alexi here."

Jewel led Greg to a grooming table and went over him with a trimming razor. He'd been groomed recently, so this was just a clean up trim. She also did his finger and toenails, trimming, filing and buffing them out. "There. All set. Go see Eric now."

Eric oiled his skin as well, just as he had Alexi. It actually felt good on his skin and had a trace scent of spicy musk to it. He led Greg over to a table with clothing piled on it. Well, perhaps clothing was a bit strong of a word, Greg thought, as Eric handed him an item and then picked up some black leather cuffs and put them on his wrists. Greg took a step backward when he saw what he picked up next.

"Wait, wait, wait," Greg said urgently. "What… you're not going to make me wear those are you?"

"Everyone is tonight, male and female," Eric said calmly.

Greg let out his breath in a sputter, tried to come up with some reason he couldn't wear them but wasn't fast enough. Eric stepped forward and had the first one on; a silver nipple clamp, followed by the second one, both linked together by three varying lengths of silver chain that draped down over his abs.

"Seriously?" When Eric nodded and told him to get dressed, he sighed and shook out the clothing, shooting another startled look back up at Eric who was grinning at him.

"I suppose everyone is wearing this too, male and female?" Greg demanded, holding up what was essentially an ankle length 'skirt', made of separate strips of fabric attached to a wide leather belt that fitted low on his hips. He would be fully covered while standing still, but any movement would reveal his legs clean up to his hips, his ass cheeks, and even his genitals, depending on which way he moved. He looked up in time to see Raven smiling at him from the hallway and gesturing for him to hurry up. She was wearing exactly what he was.

"Alright, I'm coming," he told her, buckling the garment into place around his hips. Eric tugged at a couple of the panels so that it lay flat and nodded for him to follow Raven.

She led him into a room off the kitchen where the other six chosen to act as waiters were gathered. Four men and four women had been chosen, all dressed the same as him and Raven, except that each male/female pair was wearing a different color. He and Raven were wearing a rich violet. The other three couples were wearing crimson, forest green and deep royal blue.

"Your attention," Aristide called out as he entered the room. "Each pair will work two tables this evening and each table seats six, so I expect you will be able to give a very high level of attention to all the guests. The tray bearers will bring the food up to you as the courses are ready to serve. I expect fluid and graceful movements, attention to detail, and anticipation of your tables needs. They are allowed to handle you while you work so expect that and see that you do not spill anything or I will have you strapped for their pleasure. Once the meal is finished, you may return to the kitchen for your own meals. You'll have 40 minutes to eat before returning to the floor to attend your guests for the rest of the evening. Follow me."

The group followed him into the main hall. The table assignments were easy to pick out, as each pair of tables had the same color tablecloths as the clothes the slaves were wearing. He wasn't allowed his cane but it seemed that the people at his table were prepared to make allowances for him being slower and less mobile than Raven. Serving the tables wasn't all that hard, just getting drinks, serving food, extra napkins and silverware, fairly common tasks for any waiter really, if you didn't count being stroked and fondled into the mix. He was pleased though that none of them seem disposed to do something to make him deliberately spill or drop something and get strapped.

Still the three men and three women at the table paid plenty of attention to him, well, no more he noticed than any of the other servers got at their tables. Most contented themselves with stroking his arms, flanks and back as he worked but a few slipped their hands inside the fabric of the 'skirt' he wore to stroke his legs as well. He found that to be the most distracting part of the job and was relieved when the meal was over and the guests rose from the tables to go into another hall. He followed the others back into the kitchen and sat at the table to eat his own meal, very nervous about what the rest of the evening would bring.

"Are you doing okay, Greg?" Raven asked as she began to eat. "You seem pretty nervous."

"Just a bit. The dinner wasn't bad but what's coming next?" he asked as he ate a bit of chicken.

"The guests will all gather in the ballroom for the entertainment. There'll be music and dancing, them not us, usually," she added with a shrug. "We continue to see to their needs, mostly filling drinks or fetching things for them. Don't be nervous, relax, get to know them, let them get to know you. The better they know you, the more often they'll ask for you."

Greg nodded, filling in that they'd be more likely to purchase him from the hospital, and reminding himself that that was what he was currently working toward.

All too soon, Aristide returned and summoned them. Greg followed along behind Raven, watching all the Brotherhood slaves and stymied that they all seemed excited to be going into the hall, even talking with each other which Aristide allowed until they drew near the closed doors of the ballroom. There he hushed them all and checked over each one to be sure of their appearance and sent them in but he stopped Greg at the door and drew him aside.

"You're practically trembling, why are you so nervous?" he asked.

"Sir, this slave is sorry-"

"Stop. Whatever happens in that hospital, you have a name here. I expect you to refer to yourself in the first person. Why are you so nervous?"

Greg swallowed and looked up ever so briefly before fixing his gaze on the floor. "Sir, because I don't want to fail."

"You have generated a lot of interest from many of the Brotherhood members. It is my understanding that this is something Master Nikolai is encouraging. But that answer, while true, isn't the whole answer. Tell me what else is making you nervous. There are no repercussions for an honest answer here."

Greg snorted in disbelief before he could stop himself then froze in fear. "Sir. Sir, this slave… Sir, I didn't mean-"

"Come with me, Greg," Aristide ordered, turning away from the ballroom and heading down the corridor.

Greg followed morosely, head down and certain that he had just blown any chance of favorably representing himself to the Brotherhood tonight. Would it be enough to convince them he wasn't worth the price? Nikolai would be very disappointed. He shuddered to think what would happen to him if Nikolai removed his tag.

'Sit down there," Aristide told him as they entered what was clearly a study or office of some kind. Greg looked up to see where he was supposed to sit and was surprised to see an armchair there. Deciding that Aristide must be meaning to sit in the chair, Greg moved to kneel on the floor beside it.

"Greg, I want you to sit in the chair," Aristide ordered, going over to a mini-fridge cleverly hidden in the credenza on the wall behind the desk. He returned with a bottle of ice water which he handed to Greg who was very cautiously sitting on the chair.

"Alright," he said, sitting down in the chair across from Greg. "Now answer my questions honestly. Why are you so nervous? You already said that you didn't want to fail; fail whom?"

"Master Nikolai, sir. He's… he's…" Greg struggled to articulate what Nikolai meant to him. Aristide waited patiently. "He's been the best thing to happen to me in all the years I've been a slave. He wants me to do well, to catch the Brotherhood's attention. He said they might…"

"Might what?" Aristide prompted when Greg remained silent.

"Might purchase me from the hospital if I proved worthy to them, sir," Greg answered softly. "But that will never happen now."

"Nikolai should never have told you that the Brotherhood was considering purchasing you," Aristide remarked calmly. "It puts too much pressure on you. Why do you think that it will not happen now?"

Greg gave a harsh chuckle and looked down at the floor. "Because _this slave_ ," he spat out bitterly, "can't even face what a young girl can face without being a nervous mess. Sir."

"Raven has been with the Brotherhood for three years now," Aristide said, "and she has a liking for the BDSM tendencies our membership favor, so she finds nights like these quite enjoyable. It might interest you to know her background actually. She is extremely bright, genius level mathematics, but has a darker streak to her personality. This darker streak caused her to run afoul of the university administration, resulting in academic sanctions, and also a criminal indictment for fraud. She accessed a corporate mainframe and added her work to their journal list for publishing, even though it had already been rejected. She also has a record with the police, for carrying a stiletto knife on university grounds and threatening another student with it. That event led to her expulsion and the court determination to enslavement. The Brotherhood purchased her outright from the system and brought her here."

"Like you, she is quite defiant to authority and her initial training was intensive. Even now, she often requires reminder lessons, although I am convinced those episodes are more to seek reassurance than any true defiance."

"Reassurance?" Greg said, looking up sharply. "What is reassuring about reminders that you're a slave?"

"You tell me. I'm sure that you've had reminder lessons from Nikolai since he has tagged you, have you not?"

"Yes, sir."

"What did you get out of them? Don't give me a flippant answer," Aristide warned, seeing the temptation come up in Greg's expression. "Think about it and answer me seriously if you truly do wish to do well and be purchased by the Brotherhood."

Greg took a breath and thought about all the ways that Nikolai had given him reminder lessons, including the lesson that afternoon.

"I found out that I can't provoke him into doing something harsher and shorter to get out of what he had planned."

"Yes. And?"

Greg shook his head, a bit frustrated. He'd hoped that answer would be enough to satisfy the man. He didn't want to do self-analysis at all, let alone here and right now.

"Answer me. What else have you learned?"

"That he'll keep his word. He actually seems to care about me, not just whether I'm healthy enough to function. It's confusing."

"I'm certain that it is," Aristide acknowledged. "What do you think you need to achieve for him to pronounce the lesson learned?"

"Be a good slave," Greg spat out. "Stop getting myself into trouble all the time. Give in and go with the plan, I suppose."

"Then think on this; all of the slaves here tonight are here because they are being rewarded by their master or mistress for something, be it good behavior, an achievement in their work, or for coming to a better understanding of themselves. Let me ask you this; do you want to be purchased as a Brotherhood slave?"

"Yes," Greg nodded. "It scares the hell out of me but… it's way better than being owned by the hospital or sold off to god knows what."

"Nikolai has brought you here to place you in front of the powers that be with explicit instructions to catch their attention. You've had ample demonstration to what will do that. The choice is yours now. You may only have two choices in front of you, but you do have the control to pick one of them. So which will it be? Will you go out there and play the game you know is waiting to catch their attention? Or should I put you in a room to await Nikolai at the end of the night?"

Greg swallowed hard, feeling as trapped by this question as he did by the prospect of leashing himself in the hospital but after a moment's debate he knew that he couldn't go back now. He swallowed the rest of the bottled water down and nodded. "I'll go out to the ballroom."

Aristide smiled with approval and led him back to the party.


	14. Chapter 14

Aristide walked Greg over to a group that included Tobias, handing him a carafe of wine and giving him murmured orders to start with refills. As Greg moved to do that, Tobias gestured for Aristide to come closer.

"Everything alright?" he said softly.

"Nerves that needed to be settled down. Nikolai told him more than I would have preferred. Still he seemed able to rally enough to come back in," Aristide replied.

"Good. Thank you, Aristide," Tobias said, dismissing him to go back to his position where he could watch the entire group.

Tobias casually watched Greg while he moved around the group, topping off wine glasses still seeming tense although he was interacting a bit more than he had at dinner. Some of the members were musicians and had set up to play for the assembly. Tobias settled back to listen and watch some of the couples who moved out to the dance floor.

Greg found that after half an hour or so the attention seemed to be off of him. He still got the occasional hand sneaking up his thigh or a light tug on the chains connected to the nipple clamp but for the most part the group he was serving had turned its focus to the other slaves. At first he was relieved to have lost their attention, as it allowed him to watch what was going on around him in the hall. In particular he watched Raven. She seemed to be basking in the attention, positioning her body seductively to attract not only their attention but their touch as well. And touch they did. She was given sips of the wine and nibbles of the fine treats the guests were eating and from the expression on her face, and in her eyes when he caught her glance at one point, she was having a grand time.

Suddenly it occurred to him that not having the Brotherhood members' attention wasn't the boon he thought it was. Nikolai's mandate to him tonight had been to attract their attention, to make himself intriguing to them, not just fade into the background waiting to fill wine glasses. And truthfully, watching all the other slave smiling and talking with the brotherhood, made him ache to be part of this. If he couldn't be free, this was as close to freedom as he could get. He looked back toward the group he was serving. How to get their attention?

Greg stepped forward when Ekaterina's glass was nearing empty and reached deep inside himself to overcome the conditioning of the slave administration's training, trying to blend the doctor part of his personality into the slave part. He dipped his head politely to her but held her gaze and spoke first. These were serious offenses that he had been harshly punished before and he felt fear clamoring up into his chest, but he forced himself to do it.

"Would you like more wine, ma'am?" he managed to say without stuttering or sounding like he was being strangled.

Ekaterina looked up and smiled at him. "Yes, please, Greg," she responded, raising her glass up for him to fill it.

He made an effort to be graceful while pouring the wine, to use the arm away from her and to angle himself so as to show her more of his torso. He even took a half step forward with the off side leg, which had the effect of splitting the panels of fabric on his uniform 'kilt' to allow some of his legs to show. It felt completely weird and awkward and for a moment he felt like he was in middle school again, but she smiled brighter and ran her hand up his thigh, and to his surprise, right around to his shaft which she gave a couple of gentle strokes then lightly ran her thumb in circles over the tip.

"I wondered where you'd gotten too," she chided very lightly, as she sipped wine from the goblet in her other hand.

"This is all pretty new," he risked volunteering. "It goes against other training that I've had."

"I'm pleased that you've reconciled what to do tonight," she said softly. "And what you want to do tonight." She put the wine goblet on a small, low table next to her and picked up a tiny glass bowl, that couldn't have held more than half an ounce of liquid.

"Put a splash of wine in here and set the carafe down," she instructed, taking the little bowl from him when he'd done so.

"Now step closer. I'll show you how this uniform is designed to help you attract the attention you need to garner."

Greg took a step closer and then another when she gestured he should. She reached right through the front panels and freed his cock which was half-erect and interested already. She looked up at him with a smile like the cat with the cream.

"Now watch carefully," she said.

He sucked in his breath and held it as she dipped the head of his cock into the wine and then licked the wine away. She did this a couple of times then took his full head into her mouth and sucked for a minute before releasing him.

"Don't forget to breathe, tonight," she reminded him with a smile as she sat back and picked up her goblet.

Greg took a shuddering breath of air and lightly shook his head to clear it. What had been a half mast was now fully erect and as she'd promised, poking out through the panels of fabric on display. She gave a gesture of her head to encourage him to move on to the other brotherhood members with his wine carafe.

He moved through the group, struggling to remember the lessons that Nikolai had given him on positioning himself, albeit a bit awkwardly. Still, that effort was rewarded with their attention, especially coupled with the full erection he now had. None of them had him stay near them though, like Raven and many of the others were now, and he worried that he had waited too long to act. He continued trying though.

Tobias watched Greg pull himself together with satisfaction. Nikolai's steadfast interest and defense of this slave was well-founded. He held up his goblet to get it refilled.

"Put down the carafe," he said once he had more wine. "Sit down here with me," he added, indicating a long, thick cushion on the floor next to Tobias' lounge chair.

Greg nervously complied, remembering to put himself into one of the poses he'd been taught for tonight.

"I'm pleased to see you come out of your shell tonight, Greg. I have dealt with slaves from the admin before; I know that was very difficult for you. Nikolai will be quite proud of you."

Greg let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "I hope that he will."

Tobias smiled and picked up the wine goblet offering a sip to Greg before setting it back on the table.

"I know he will," he reassured him. Tobias reclined on the chair and let his hand roam over Greg, checking out his body, his responses, his willingness to move into a position that would make him even more open and vulnerable to Tobias.

"You have been left here alone, though Nikolai is still here in this very ballroom, with few instructions and most of those go against every bit of conditioning and training you've received since being enslaved. You've had to decide to do this without guidance. Don't think that I don't recognize how hard it has been for you. And don't be less of yourself that it was hard. The conditioning that the slave administration uses is extremely thorough and almost impossible to undo. To be able to fight it as you have, to fight it even now without the role of 'Doctor House' to aid you, marks you as a very interesting prospect."

Greg did his best to will himself to relax under Tobias' hands, to turn into his touches and stretch out to encourage him to touch him more and lingeringly. His body was interested that much was true. Gentle caresses brought up responses he had forgotten over the years. And part of his mind was enjoying it too, so starved had he been for any real affection. He didn't think Tobias particularly cared for him one way or the other, but the man at least cared to be certain that his touch brought gentle enjoyment to Greg and not just take it all for himself.

The part of his mind that still struggled against all this sat up and took notice of what Tobias was saying. Greg still remembered how thoroughly undone he had been by the training he'd been given and would do anything not to go back to it. Including making himself interesting to the Brotherhood sexually.

"Let me ask you a few questions," Tobias said as he casually rolled and fondled Greg's balls in his hand. "If the Brotherhood purchases you, what do you think you'll be doing?"

"A lot more of this," he said uncomfortably.

"Yes, that's true," Tobias chuckled. "You don't wish to participate. You wonder why Raven does."

"Yes. A slave doesn't have the right to say no to a free person. We're helpless; you can do whatever you want to us and no one will stop you."

"They will here," Tobias said firmly. "Aristide and I will not allow Brotherhood slaves to be abused or seriously harmed in any way, including mentally. That is why we have not just made arrangements to buy you outright without making sure that you will fit with us."

"There are no legal consequences though," Greg said a bit cautiously. "And definitions of what constitute serious harm vary widely."

"Yes, unfortunately that is very true," Tobias agreed. "Within the brotherhood there is a system of censures and sanctions that can be placed on our members. Limiting business agreements and therefore profits, monetary fines for cost of care, and the like. They can be booted out of the membership or be allowed to remain if they submit themselves to a full out slave level correction. And the persons who define harm are Aristide and Dr Ellis."

Greg was surprised at the level of safeguards the Brotherhood used to control their members.

"So… if someone did something to me that traumatized me mentally, for example, put me into a fugue state," he began thinking of his earliest days as a slave at the hospital.

"They would be immediately removed from the Brotherhood and our members would cut all ties with them."

"And if they wanted to submit to a slave level correction?"

"For something like that? That's unconscionable. But for the sake of discussion, they would be required to spend three to six months as a slave. Harnessed, naked, forbidden to speak unless spoken to. They would do the worst jobs here and would be punished with a leather strap for infractions. Initially they would receive a caning for their crime. And they can still be thrown out of the Brotherhood if the elder council does not feel that they have learned their lesson."

"So you try to demonstrate clearly to them just how vulnerable slaves are by putting them in the same shoes?"

"Exactly," Tobias replied, having moved now to languid stroking that was building a slow fire in Greg's belly, but his mind was still focused on getting some answers.

"Nikolai figured that I would work with Dr. Ellis," Greg brought up.

"Yes, Ellis has expressed a great interest in you, both professionally and personally. But we aren't at all clear about whether he would be good for you personally."

"Because he likes BDSM?"

"Yes. That falls under the category of doing harm if you don't find it at least stimulating. Some people simple like the restraints. Some like to be strapped or caned. Some like to be humiliated. But if a slave doesn't like it… I mean truly doesn't like it, few do in the moment, then we keep all their contact with Ellis to a professional level. Jonus too."

"I would like to still work as a doctor," Greg said carefully, shuddering as he remembered the day at the slave center, when he'd almost been sent back to processing for daring to think of himself as a doctor.

"That is already planned on," Tobias assured him.

"Do you ever free slaves?"

"Sometimes. It depends on the reasons that they were enslaved in the first place. And those that were for example sold into as children to settle a debt are often the easiest to free. It is unlikely that I would ever condone setting you free."

Greg looked away, very dejected at the dashing of a hope he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Tobias leaned down and turned his face back toward him.

"It is not because of your behavior as a slave, or for the profit you could bring to the Brotherhood. It is because of your behavior leading to your enslavement. All these years a slave have done nothing to alleviate or mitigate the issues that caused it."

"I don't smoke or drink anymore. Can't even stomach the idea of smoking after their 'cure' for it."

"Those are side effects of the issues that led to you being a slave, not the cause," Tobias said soberly.

"What would you like to be called?" Tobias asked after a moment, knowing this was an extremely loaded question. He wanted to know just how much Greg could fight off the conditioning, it would be crucial for the role he could have in the Brotherhood in the future.

Greg froze for a moment, looked down and heard that question swirling in his mind, heard the 'correct' answer come up unbidden. _What is your name? Whatever you want it to be, ma'am._ After a couple of shaky breaths, he looked up and met the eyes of the waiting Tobias.

"I want to be called House," he said, wincing and waiting for the axe to fall. For Tobias to send him out to be corrected by Aristide, or locked up and taken back to the hospital to rot.

Tobias nodded and gestured for Aristide to come over. Greg was trembling, certain that this was the end.

"Take House over to Ellis. Tell him to add him to his harem and try him out for the rest of the evening."


	15. Chapter 15

Aristide delivered Greg to Ellis' group, leaning in to speak to Ellis before stepping back to wait for further instructions or a dismissal. Ellis looked at Greg for a long moment, considering how best to test him out.

"Get him into the pony equipment, Aristide. Leave the tail for me."

"Yes, sir,"

Aristide walked to the back of the room, returning with a box full of leather items that Greg definitely didn't like the look of. Aristide took out an elaborate head harness with an attached bit and also blinders that would limit his vision, just as they would on a horse. Greg nervously took the bit into his mouth, biting down on the leather as Aristide buckled the harness into place and adjusted the blinders. The next piece was an ornamented chest harness with an extra strap at the small of his back to which his hands were bound. The final piece was a harness around his hips with straps front and back. The front straps connected with a cock ring and the rear straps, Greg realized with sinking dismay, connected to a phallus with long leather fringe that simulated a horse's tail that Ellis was now coating with lubricant.

Aristide guided Greg right up next to Ellis and told him to bend over the man's lap. This wasn't easy to do with his hands bound behind him, but Greg did so and was surprised when Aristide steadied him with a firm grip on his arms until he was in place. Ellis urged him to relax and breathe as he inserted the phallus and buckled it on, dismissing Aristide with a nod, and leaving Greg laying face down for now.

Greg was struggling to control his breathing, to keep his balance on the man's lap, even though he really didn't want to be there; he wanted to fall off even less. Ellis took hold of his bound hands and helped him do that.

"I won't let you fall," Ellis assured him, keeping hold of Greg's hands with one of his own, while using the other to stroke his thighs and lightly toy with the leather fringes of the tail. "Take slower breaths and work with my hold on you instead of against it and trying to balance all on your own."

It took a couple of minutes, but Ellis felt Greg finally beginning to rely on his grip to help balance. He never let it falter, never let Greg doubt that he would keep him from falling and at last he felt his muscles shudder as Greg let himself relax in position.

Ellis smiled and signaled for another glass of wine. Ekaterina came over and sat down next to him smiling at Greg, though he couldn't see her.

"Ekaterina," Ellis greeted her with a smile. "How's your new slave fitting in?"

"Oh, he's still quite nervous but he's starting to adjust now. It's just a matter of him learning the way my household runs and behaves. I'm quite pleased so far, thank you for your assistance in choosing him."

"My pleasure."

Greg lay still and listened to their conversation about the new slave she had bought carefully. They talked about the methods she had used to help the slave adjust, what she wanted him to do and become in her household, and different training methods Ellis thought she might try to facilitate this transformation. Greg was fairly certain that this was the way Brotherhood masters interacted with each other, but he was surprised to be privy to overhearing it. Then he wondered if that was a deliberate training method on Ellis' part. It did intrigue him; their methods were different than the Slave Administration. They wanted obedience and submission, like any master, but they wanted the slave to eventually do so willingly, not to break them down to mindless creatures like his initial training had done.

Lying on the man's lap like this, constantly getting lightly stroked, had brought a slow state of arousal as his fear began to ebb away. Ellis never once let him feel at all off balance. The worst part was having his head down like this. He'd tried to hold it up at first but his neck muscles complained after a minute or so, and he'd had to give that up. With the blinders on, he couldn't see anything but the floor beneath him. He'd tried to zone out of what was going on and withdraw into himself to endure this new treatment but the gentle touching and fondling created just enough sensation to make that impossible. He was frustrated with that until Nikolai's words came to his mind; that he tended to circumvent the experience that his master wanted him to have, even to draw punishment to try to get out of it, and recognized that zoning out now would be doing just that. It would also run counter to the instructions he had been given and had decided to obey; to attract the attention of the Brotherhood masters in order to get purchased by them. With a small sigh he focused on his situation and the two masters he was sitting with.

While he listened to them talk, he thought about the way he'd been bound and tried to think of it in light of training methods. What lesson were they trying to impress upon him by doing this?

The bit was obvious, to keep him from speaking, though it also gave him something to bite down on when he was feeling anxious or the stimulation level began to rise higher. It made it harder to breathe normally though and swallowing his saliva was harder as well. If he didn't concentrate, he found himself gasping for air open mouthed which made him drool, something he abhorred. He had to focus, to be deliberate about his breathing, and that action helped to keep him calm. At least this bit style didn't block his mouth as much as a ball gag did, allowing him to work his jaw muscles and keep them from getting very sore.

The blinders were just plain annoying. He couldn't hold his head up long to look around and they kept him from being able to use any of his peripheral vision. It would have been easier to wear them had he been standing, he thought. Even if he could still only see straight ahead, turning his head to look would be easier and if forbidden that he could at least see something other than the floor beneath him. But that was probably the point, he admitted. They had done a much more extreme version in the Slave Administration, robbing him of both sight and hearing for so many days of sensory deprivation that he had finally broken. At least this just limited his sight and left him with full hearing. Blinders kept him looking where his masters wanted him to look, kept him from being distracted by or able to focus on anything else.

He knew that binding his hands made him vulnerable, unable to resist as much, or to block touch in any way, not that he would have dared to here. It also made him unable to balance himself which he hated. He had to depend on Ellis to help him and his experiences at PPTH had taught him harshly not to depend on anyone to do that. And yet, Ellis was helping balance him. Had continued to do so. But when the time came to finally regain his feet, he wouldn't be able to do so himself. He'd have to be helped to stand and that grated on him. It didn't bother him as much when Nikolai helped him steady on his feet, he realized, but this bothered him immensely. Because he didn't know Ellis. Didn't trust him… like he had begun to trust Nikolai.

He was glad that they hadn't bound his feet as well, since he wouldn't have been able to balance himself much at all if they had. Although that was a double edged sword; if his feet had been bound together then Ellis wouldn't have such free access to fondle him as he did now. Still, he'd rather be handled than bound so restrictively.

The really new and unnerving part was the horsetail phallus. Somehow it seemed much more threatening than the dildo he'd worn from his first day in Nikolai's care. It wasn't that it was bigger, but it wasn't shaped much at all, simply a plug with the tail attachment. He realized that it was the tail that made it intimidating. Combined with the bit and the blinders, it created the illusion of a human pony and just that little bit more dehumanization, on top of everything else he'd endured, seemed too much to bear. He desperately hoped Nikolai would come for him. Last time, he'd said he couldn't be penetrated; did this count as such? Even though it was only a plug?

If, no, when, he was purchased by the Brotherhood, would Nikolai still be his master? He'd never asked. Would he be corporate property again? Free to be tagged by anyone the elders approved of? Like Ellis or Jonus? That thought made him anxious again.

Ellis felt Greg starting to tense up again and set his wine glass aside. "Come here, Alexi," he called to a nearby slave. "Help me get him on his feet."

Alexi took hold of Greg's shoulders and lifted him up while Ellis steadied him, getting his feet placed and then helping complete the move to standing. Alexi continued to hold his shoulders for a moment, waiting to be certain that he was steady since he'd been head down for nearly half an hour. When he saw that he was he dropped his hands and took a step back.

Ellis looked up at Greg calculatingly. Aristide had told him that Tobias would allow him to be called House as he wished but preferred that be held for only Tobias and Nikolai for now; unless needed to ground him. The man was anxious but seemed to settle a bit now that he was on his feet.

"Stand right there and look this way," Ellis ordered, pointing to the spot he wanted him. Greg did so, relieved to get a little distance.

Ellis kept Alexi with him, putting him into some different bondage restraints. The cuffs Alexi was wearing were attached to spreader bars that held his arms and his legs spread wide apart. The bar between his wrists was attached by a quick link to a chain that hung from the ceiling for just this purpose, and provided some support while holding his arms up over his head. Greg tried not to watch this, turning his head and looking at the rest of the hall.

The masters were sitting in pairs for the most part, he noticed, and had at least one slave per master that they were actively involved with. He saw other slaves on display in the center of the room, some restrained harshly, some not restrained at all. Other slaves were serving drinks and fetching items for the masters. He finally found Nikolai, sitting with another master he didn't recognize from the other meetings he'd been brought to. A sharp sting of a leather strap on his calf snapped his attention back.

"Eyes front," Ellis said firmly. "Don't close your eyes, don't turn your head at all."

Alexi was now fitted out as Greg was, with bit, blinders, ring and tail, but he was held spread eagle by the spreader bars unable to move at all. Satisfied that Greg was watching properly now, Ellis began to lazily strap Alexi. The leather didn't break the skin or cause anything more than a mild redness but it stung sharply and Alexi reacted with a bit of a mincing flinch every time it struck. He used a random pattern, but continued for a few minutes until the young man's skin was covered with red lines, then turned Alexi so that he was facing Greg.

Their eyes met and Greg was surprised to see that Alexi wasn't in any distress. Far from it in fact. He was smiling best he could around the bit and his pupils were wide with arousal. A quick glance down at the hard erection he had, confirmed that much. Greg was puzzled by Alexi's reaction, as much as he was by Raven's. Clearly they were getting something far different from the experience than he was.

Ellis delivered a few more lines to Alexi's ass and thighs, letting Greg watch his reaction. Though he winced at the stinging blow, his arousal and his smile never dropped.

Ellis had an idea, leaning over to whisper it to Ekaterina, who smiled and nodded. "I'll speak to Aristide," she said, setting her wine glass aside and getting up. She came over to Alexi, stroking over the lines on his skin then fondling him until his hips began to buck forward. She pinched the head of his cock.

"Ah, ah, ah. Far too soon for that, you know better," she chided lightly, then turned to Greg, and did the same to him before heading off.

Ellis kept up an occasional snap of the strap, to keep Alexi on the edge, and delivered a couple to Greg when he saw that his attention was wandering. Soon enough Ekaterina came back and the smile on her face said that Aristide had agreed. That had Greg concerned.

"It will take a few minutes to be ready. He suggests getting them both some water while he gets the others ready," she told Ellis.

"Excellent," Ellis said with a grin that he turned on Alexi and Greg, causing Greg to shudder in dread, which only made him grin more. He moved to bring up a padded waist high bar while Ekaterina lowered Alexi, taking the spreader bars off him and binding his hands behind him as Greg's were, then took out both men's bits.

"Come on both of you. Bend over the bar here so you can get some water," Ellis called. Greg frowned at the order but Alexi moved right away, bending forward to rest his chest on the bar with his feet spread for balance. Ekaterina took Greg's arm and encourage him forward into the same position, then she and Ellis each took a bowl from the slaves that had come up to deliver them and held them under the men's faces. Alexi never hesitated, lowering his face and beginning to gulp the water out of the bowl.

"Drink up, Greg," Ekaterina said when he didn't move. He bit his lips, took a breath, then followed Alexi's example. He was thirsty but he hated to drink out of a bowl and this position just made it worse. When the water was gone he went to straighten up but her hand on his shoulder stopped him, making him stay resting on the bar.

A few minutes later, the bits were buckled back in place and they were told to stand up. Greg thought they were about to be leashed but the straps connected to the bits they were wearing. Reins, he realized with a start. They were led away and out the doors into the expansive rear lawn, where there were other slaves fitted up just as they were. Greg came to an abrupt halt as a frisson of fear when through him. Ellis waved Ekaterina forward with Alexi and put his hand on Greg's arm.

"Calm down. This is just a game and you won't be asked to do all of it. We have Nikolai's permission." Greg was still freaked out, so Ellis made him turn around, so that he couldn't see the others for the moment.

"Slow breaths," he ordered, making him breath to a slow count until he'd calmed somewhat. "Good. Now come with me."

Reluctantly, Greg did so and was put into one of two lines of four men, all harnessed as ponies. Extra straps were being connected to the D-rings on the chest harnesses, attaching each man to a central bar connected to a low wagon just behind them, and then to each other to keep their spacing correct. Different reins were added and passed through each man to the driver's seat. Then an extra strap was added, one that prevented the ponies from lowering their heads, running from the crown of the head harness to the ring that held their hands in place. A few more miscellaneous pieces of ornamentation completed the image of a team of harness horses.

Before the restrictive head strap had gone on, Greg had seen other slaves being hooked up to what looked like a racing sulky. They seemed excited, though he couldn't imagine why. To run a race was one thing, he had liked to run when he was younger, but to run a race as a harness horse? That boggled his mind. Finally it seemed everyone was ready, the racing sulkies lined up behind the main wagon that Greg was hooked to with the team of eight. There had been a steady noise of excited chatter building from the front of the house and when horn was sounded by Aristide, a full throated cheering began. The reins were flicked and the front of the team started forward at a walk, forcing him to follow along or get dragged.

The tail phallus was annoying, moving as he walked, giving unwanted arousal, while the leather straps of the tail swayed and brushed his ass and thighs freely. Their team was leading the group, and they walked around the house to the front where he could see all the masters and other slaves gathered out front. They were driven around the circular drive three times to cheering from the spectators to give them a good look at the racers and he heard plenty of bets being placed. He tried to look for Nikolai but couldn't spot him in the glimpses he was able to get.

After the third trip around the wagon was pulled off to the side and positioned so that they could see the racers too. Aristide and another handler were there, taking off the restrictive head strap so that they could watch more easily. Greg moved his head side to side to stretch his neck muscles but he found himself unwillingly fascinated by the races. There were sixteen in all and they ran in pairs, the winners moved aside one by one. The remaining eight losing ponies were then entered into a full harness race, all eight of them running at once and jostling for position. It was four laps around the driveway and only the first and second place finishers would move on. Greg had picked out one he thought would make it and gave a muffled cheer around the bit when he placed second and won the chance to move on.

Aristide smirked as he watched Greg from the rear of the team. He'd agreed to this after speaking with Nikolai though he worried it would be too much too soon for him after his earlier attack of nerves. It seemed that watching the races was just the right remedy for that. Now that the first heats were over, he and the handler put the straps back into place and drove the full team back up to the front of the drive. While the ponies rested up for the next heat, the team would provide rides around the house. Nothing much, just enough to keep them focused and concentrating on their task. Normally they'd trot a bit but Greg's presence on the team kept them at a walk. That would be good for the rest of them though, a reminder to follow the speed set by the driver not their own pace.

Greg grimaced when the strap was put back into place and they were driven out again. To his great dismay, some of the Brotherhood members were coming over to get into the wagon. Once they were loaded up, they were urged forward at a walk, onto the lawn and around the house, unloading that group and picking up another. The wagon was harder to pull with passengers and the other ponies wanted to go faster but were checked by the driver to stay at a walk. The third time around, Greg saw Nikolai, standing next to Tobias, to be in the next group for a ride. Nikolai caught Greg's eyes and gave him a nod of approval before the blinders blocked his vision of him again.

After eight groups of passengers had gone for their ride, the wagon team was taken aside to watch the remaining races, the straps unhooked as well as the bits and water was given to each one of them.

"Remember, no speaking while you watch the races or I will put your bit back in now," Aristide cautioned them all firmly.

The remaining heats were run one by one and the final race had all of them watching excitedly, with full cheering from the Brotherhood. Greg nodded sharply in satisfaction as the racer he'd chosen won. Their bits were put back in and the straps reattached as the sulkies were moved into a parade formation behind them in order of their finishes in the races. The winning racer was completely unharnessed save for the tail phallus and placed in the wagon with a wreath of artificial roses draped over his chest. Cheesy, Greg thought, rolling his eyes, though a very small part of him longed to be whole enough to win a race like this, to be paraded victorious in front of all these masters and owners.

The circled the drive three times and then returned to the back of the house where they were all unharnessed from the sulkies and wagon and taking into a stable. There were actually horses in here as well but a large area was clearly designed for human ponies too. Other slaves were there to rub out sore muscles, provide water though it was in bowls set on a shelf behind a padded bar again, then wash them all down. Finally they were led back into the room where the masters were waiting. The winner of the race was called up to Tobias' platform and allowed to sit as one of the masters, waited on by the other slaves, and freely talking with the masters.

Greg was delivered back to Nikolai, to his great relief. All of the restraints had been removed and he'd been put back into the paneled kilt again. Nikolai gave him a smile of approval and had him kneel on a cushion at his feet.

"You looked good harnessed up to the team," he said, stroking his head and shoulders. "Did you enjoy the races? Did you choose the winner?"

"I liked the races and yes, I did pick the winner," Greg answered.

"Well done. I, unfortunately, did not," he said with a chuckle. Nikolai gestured to one of the servers and had them offer Greg his choice of the snack tray and then handed him a glass of wine. "You've done very well tonight. Very well indeed. Eat and relax. Sit down fully if you like, just mind that you try to keep some semblance of gracefulness. We'll be heading for home in an hour or so."

They'd gotten home very late from the Brotherhood meeting and Nikolai let Greg sleep in a couple hours since it was Sunday. Sebastien woke him up around nine, and sent him up to the den where Nikolai was reading.

"Come sit down, Greg. How are you feeling this morning?"

"A bit sore but okay," he answered as he took his usual spot on the cushion next to the sofa.

"Good. We're having a brunch in an hour but I want to hear from you about last night. You are free to tell me your true thoughts and feelings on it. I want to hear them and I will answer your questions," he stated, catching and holding Greg's gaze.

Greg slowly nodded. "Okay. The dinner part was okay, though the skimpy 'uniform' with the nipple clamps wasn't welcome. I can't say I liked getting groped and fondled while I'm trying to serve food and drinks. I think some of them timed it to try to purposely make me spill something."

"Probably," Nikolai agreed blandly. "It's a game that many play to test the slaves, especially new ones."

"What would have happened if I had?"

"You would have been strapped for the transgression, tableside, then put back to work serving."

"I thought it would be something like that," Greg muttered, glad that it hadn't happened.

"Aristide told me you had some anxiety afterward," he prompted.

"Yeah," Greg said slowly. "The way the Brotherhood is so open sexually, expecting slaves to work to be noticed, to be seen… it goes against everything I was trained for. And when that conflict comes up it's… it makes me anxious. It's like fighting myself to follow your orders when this other voice in my head is telling me how wrong it is."

Nikolai nodded. "It's going to be that way for a long time, I'm afraid. But I am very pleased that you were able to rally and come back in to serve the masters. After you calmed down a bit, I saw how you started to use our lessons to attract their attention. You did exactly what I asked you to do."

"I don't want to do it, you know. All this sexual interaction," Greg said cautiously. Nikolai merely nodded. "Why do I have to do it then? Why can't I get their attention with my work as a doctor instead?"

"If they were hiring you as an employee in one of their facilities, that would be enough. But they are purchasing a slave, albeit one with a unique skill set. And sexual interaction is an integral part of the Brotherhood's inner culture, slave or free. You have to show them that you can fit into that culture, since you'll be living with us after you've been purchased. If you can't fit into it and learn to at least get some small amount of satisfaction out of it, then we would be doing you a disservice to purchase you. That's not what we want to do."

Greg pursed his lips and frowned at that. He'd never considered that unwillingness to participate sexually would be enough for them to reject him.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why the emphasis on sexual interaction? The Slave Administration does it, the Brotherhood does it. Why?"

"The Slave Administration does it to drive home the idea that nothing you have belongs to you, not even your body. Because not having the ability to refuse helps them break you down and make you into the obedient slave they are known for producing."

"The Brotherhood does it partially for the same reason. It's a barrier that free people have and once that is removed, it makes the point that you are a slave more effectively than any other method could."

"That's true," Greg agreed morosely, hunching in on himself a bit. "You said partially. Why else does the Brotherhood do it?"

"Some of the reasons why you must learn along the way, but I will tell you a couple of basics. Foremost is that, as you said, slaves cannot deny contact but also cannot initiate it, we decided to have a lot of focus on sex, both for the masters' satisfaction and to make sure that the slaves got satisfaction from it too. We don't deny that our slaves are human beings, and as such have basic emotional needs that need to be met to truly be functional and successful, even in the role of slave. So we decided to combine meeting the need for physical touch and sexual contact with training."

"So you're trying to actually fulfill some basic need in a slave while doing all the rest of your program? Even with me?"

"Even with you."

Greg nodded but it was clear he wasn't seeing how it fulfilled his needs yet, but Nikolai wouldn't explain it right now. This was something that he didn't think Greg was quite ready to realize in himself yet, and the proved correct when Greg moved on from that line of questioning.

"So Ellis was quite a shock," Greg commented. "That whole human pony gig. That was weird. Obviously something you do quite a bit with all the paraphernalia you had."

"It is something we enjoy doing frequently."

"How does that fit into your 'fulfilling needs' philosophy?"

"Well, it gives slaves a way to compete for rewards, for one thing. Doing physical competition helps alleviate pent up energy from being so controlled all the time, even when fitted up in the harnessing. It gives them a chance to act up a little and show off a little, as we allow 'horse-like' behavior to pass, such as fidgeting away, pulling against the reins and such. The more they display themselves while harnessed, the greater the likelihood of a reward."

"Like the race winner got."

"Yes, like that. It depends on what is a reward to each slave and needs to be something that is harder to achieve to make it worth the effort."

"Ellis freaks me out," he said. "He has this look in his eyes that really makes me nervous wondering what he'll do next."

"His limits are much farther out there than mine. It remains to be seen where your limits really lie, once we get beyond your anxiety, fear, and resistance. How was pulling the wagon?"

"It was… okay. They kept at a slow walk and the way they had the cross harnessing, I was… okay. I did like watching the racers. Before this leg, I could have been doing that," he said then looked away as he realized that he'd admitted liking the idea of the harness racing.

"Aristide was pleased with your performance," Nikolai said. "He would like to have you as part of the team for training others. Maybe you could help to coach the racers as well."

"To train others? Don't you mean to be trained?" Greg asked, confused.

"No. I mean to train others. In this case, your leg injury is an asset. Too many times, the human ponies tend to act for themselves too much, forgetting that they have to work as one cohesive team to effectively pull a wagon. They move at different speeds, resisting the instructions of the driver. Aristide thinks that with you in the team, it's forced to move at slow speed, forced to move as a cohesive team in direct response to the driver. But doing that would require you to get comfortable with the role play and the equipment. At any rate, I told him that would be something to keep for the future. I have other things to teach you right now."

Greg managed to look both relieved and alarmed at the same moment, which made Nikolai chuckle. "It's time for brunch. Come."


End file.
